


Armed and... Totally Not Ready for That

by EmpressOfEdge



Category: RWBY
Genre: Bumbleby - Freeform, Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Character Death (But You Know Who), F/F, Fluff, Happy Ending, Humor, I mean there has to be, Implied Past Abuse, Mild Angst, Mostly Canon Compliant, Post Vol6 Ep4, just a dash of smut, nothing too graphic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-26
Updated: 2019-04-01
Packaged: 2019-08-29 12:44:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 38,725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16744228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmpressOfEdge/pseuds/EmpressOfEdge
Summary: Set after Vol6 Ep4 -- I started this before all the spooky stuff (and bee stuff) so mostly canon compliant, then diverges at the beginning of Ep5.Yang and Blake start a long healing process that becomes even more difficult with emotions running wild.(We’ll laugh, We’ll cry, We’ll definitely facepalm at the bees. It’ll be fun. Trust me.)





	1. Here

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Right! So, not new to fanfic but new to writing it for RWBY. Hope y'all enjoy!

The farm wasn’t as big as it looked from the entrance gate. Despite the amount of property and several buildings, only one was intact enough to house the seven travelers from the bellowing wind and sharp snowfall – meaning they’d all have to share the tight living space for the night.

Yang was going to be the last to pile into the house, after taking care to park Bumblebee out in the old barn, under the sliver of roof to keep it dry. She’d be damned if she had to pull her bike from another pile of snow. She sighed as she grabbed the dark duffle bag from the back of her bike, slinging it onto her shoulder. The soft crunch of snow to her left caught her attention and she looked up to find Blake striding towards her, with purpose, but still a little unsure. The Faunus stopped in front of her, gesturing to the bag on Yang’s shoulder.

“I… I can take that now…” she said. “Thanks for carting it all this way.”

Yang shrugged, hiking the bag higher onto her shoulder as she grabbed her own with her left hand. “It’s fine, Blake. I can carry it a few more steps.” The words came out a little harsher than she intended, which was something that just seemed to keep happening when it came to Blake. She could see the shame written all over the other woman’s face, and she wished it would just go away. She wished it could simply be like before. Before the fall of Beacon. Before Adam.

Before Blake ran.

She cleared her throat, voice softening slightly. “Seriously, it’s… it’s not a big deal. Besides,” she added, smirking, “robot arm,” she wiggled the fingers on her right hand. “Super strength,” she said, curling her own bag in her left hand. “I think I can handle carrying two bags.”

A forced smile spread across Blake’s lips, ears twitching flat against her head for a moment before she composed herself. “Right… of course.”

An awkward silence fell over them, an odd sensation for both partners, so used to being able to confide in one another. Yang broke the tortured spell they were under, stepping towards the door and placing her right hand on Blake’s shoulder. Blake jumped slightly and glanced her way. Yang gave her what she hoped was a reassuring smile, though she could tell it looked forced.

“C’mon,” Yang said, giving Blake’s shoulder a gentle squeeze, “we have bigger things to deal with…” she trailed off, eyes darting towards the farmhouse before dropping her hand and making her way out of the barn. Blake sighed, shoulders slumping for a moment before she straightened her spine and followed after.

 

* * *

 

 

“So, what do we even _do_ now?” Yang asked as the rest of her team was setting up their sleeping bags in the living room. Since it was the only space with a fireplace, they all decided it would be best to stay there together and _not_ freeze.

Ruby looked up at her older sister with sad eyes as she continued.

“I mean… Ozpin lied so much already,” Yang said, “are we sure we want to actually bring the relic to Atlas? There’s already another relic there. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m not for having _any_ of them near each other.”

“The vision said it only mattered if all four were together,” Ruby said, “so… better to know where they are, and that they’re safe…” Ruby trailed off, looking over to Weiss. “Right?”

The ex-heiress shrugged. “I suppose?”

“Whatever we do, we do it carefully,” Blake said, rolling out her sleeping bag. “And _together._ ”

Yang opened her mouth to speak when Qrow entered the room from the kitchen, capping his flask and placing it in his jacket pocket.

“What we _do,_ ” Qrow said, glancing around the room once, “is get some rest. No one’s any good tired.” He looked back towards the kitchen – where Oscar was sitting dejectedly at the table – and sighed. “I have a feeling it’s going to be a long journey,” he said, mostly to himself, before taking his flask back out and pulling a long swig as he disappeared into one of the other rooms.

Ruby frowned, looking towards Yang whose eyes followed Qrow as he took his leave.

“I’m worried about Uncle Qrow,” Ruby muttered, drawing her sister’s attention. “I know none of us really took the whole… secret thing well, but…” Ruby shook her head.

Yang sighed and nodded. “Yeah…” she straightened up a bit, mussing her sister’s hair with her hand. “Don’t worry too much tonight, Rubes. He’s right. We’re gonna need our rest.”

Ruby shook her head, trying to fix her hair. “But—”

“ _Ruby,_ ” Yang said. Ruby looked into her sister’s eyes, usually so full of light and mirth only to find them tired and pleading. “Please, just… not tonight…”

Ruby swallowed and nodded her head and Yang let out a sigh of relief, falling back onto her bedroll.

 

A few hours later and she was still lying there, eyes closed tight, with no hope of sleep on the horizon. Jinn’s vision played over and over again behind her eyelids, each time the frustration of those final words – _You Can’t –_ eating away at her resolve. She’d already lost it once today… she couldn’t afford to do that again, not with Ruby worrying about Qrow as it was. The leader didn’t need another mess to worry about.

Then again, neither did Yang.

Between the end of the world and a certain cat-eared Faunus, she had enough on her mind. She honestly couldn’t believe _Blake_ was the one to say they need to act together. How could she after leaving for so long? After leaving when they _needed_ to be together.

Gritting her teeth, Yang rolled over with a huff, turning her back to the rest of her sleeping team. The heat of the fire in the fireplace was becoming overbearing with the emotions raining down in her head. She needed air. Giving up on sleep altogether, Yang quietly stood up and padded out of the farmhouse into the cool night.

 

Blake heard the click of the farmhouse door, her ear twitching in the direction of the soft sound – surely too quiet for any of her other teammates to have picked up on. She glanced around the room, eyes guiding over Ruby and Weiss’s sleeping forms before falling on Yang’s empty spot. She sat up with a sigh, rubbing any trace of sleep from her eyes as she pondered her next move. Yang had left, probably wanting to be alone for a while – but the eerie silence of the farm property still had Blake on edge. She shouldn’t let her partner wander the unknown grounds alone… even if she was an extremely skilled fighter… right? It was a totally normal thing to be worried about… right? Bandits? Random thugs? A Grimm or two? Sure, Yang _could_ handle them alone but…

“Just _go_.”

Blake jumped, too caught up in her inner debate to have noticed the ex-heiress was up as well. Her hair slightly disheveled and dark circles under her bright blue eyes.

“What?” Blake asked, the shock slowly wearing off.

“I said _just go_. You’re clearly overthinking things. The inner monologue you were just having with yourself was _clearly_ loud enough to wake me up so…” Weiss mumbled with a teasing smile and a roll of her eyes.

Blake chuckled lightly for a moment before catching herself, and becoming solemn once more. “I don’t know…” she whispered, eyes falling back to the front door. “I… I think she just wants to be alone.”

Weiss sighed, sitting up in her sleeping bag. “Look, even if she _does_ want to be alone, no one should be outside in that storm by themselves. So… just… go bring her back or whatever. Dust knows she’ll only listen to _you._ ”

Blake scoffed. “Maybe a while ago,” she said, fidgeting with her thumbs, “but I think I might’ve lost those… privileges.”

There was a beat of silence only filled by the fire crackling in the fireplace. “Look…” Weiss started carefully. “I’m not going to lie to you; you hurt her.” Blake flinched at the admission, even though she knew it was true, it wasn’t something she was proud of – and it certainly wasn’t something she cared to remember. “But,” Weiss continued with a small reassuring smile, seeing her teammate’s discomfort, “I know she’s happy you’re back.”

Blake glanced over at Weiss, golden eyes unsure. “Do you think?”

Weiss bit her lip. “I…” she sighed, looking at the fire to her right. “I know she’s still upset. And she can say she’s fine all she wants, but I think _everyone_ knows she’s not. But that doesn’t mean she’s not happy you’re here now, Blake.” Weiss turned to look at her teammate. “I’m not saying things are going to be perfect. But if you don’t start showing her that you’re _really here_ … well, nothing’s really going to get better.”

Blake’s ears flattened against her head, a brief tell that – though Weiss’s words were true, and helpful – they hurt like hell to hear. “Right,” she said, looking down at her hands as her ears twitched back into place.

“So… _go,_ ” Weiss said, making a shooing motion with her hand. “If we go on like this any longer, we’ll wake up Ruby and I’m not dealing with her antics this late.”

Though at some point the words may have contained actual malice, there was nothing but lighthearted banter behind them now, and Blake chuckled under her breath. “Wouldn’t want _that._ ” Blake took a deep breath before slipping out of her sleeping bag and throwing on her coat. She paused, her hand on the door handle, and glanced over her shoulder at Weiss who had laid back down. “Hey, Weiss?” Blake called softly.

“Yeah?” She replied, not bothering to open her eyes.

“Thanks.”

Weiss didn’t respond, but Blake could see a ghost of a smile on her lips before she turned and stepped out into the night.

 

 

It was fucking _cold._ The wind had let up a bit from earlier, but the snowfall was still pretty impressive and so Yang hadn’t made it far, just to the small wooden fence that marked the edge of the house’s property. She rested against it on her forearms, honestly a little grateful only one hand was capable of being as numb as it was.

She let out a deep breath, fogging up the air in front of her face, reminding herself she was there. She was breathing. She was feeling, even if the feelings now were only numbness from the frigid air. She briefly thought about how it was nice to have a normal reason for her hand to shake, when she caught a sound on the breeze. One that didn’t quite match that of the squeaking gate in the distance. It was a softer sound of boots treading slowly on fresh snow. Most people might’ve missed it, but she’d know that measured pace anywhere and so she stayed still, gazing up at the snow falling from the sky until Blake sauntered up next to her, hesitating only a moment before resting her arms against the fence as well.

They both stood silent for a moment, enjoying the snowfall in companionable silence. It was nice, to have a silent moment with Blake that didn’t make Yang want to say anything to break the tension. It was nice not to feel _tension._ She’d nearly forgotten what it was like before the Battle of Beacon. How they’d spend nearly all of their time together. Talking about class, about fighting, about guys, about the little shit, about the big shit, about… everything. And now, even though she was enjoying the quiet, she’d give anything to smile and laugh with Blake like they used to. There wasn’t a need to break the silence, but she wanted to hear Blake’s voice, hear her laughter fill the air like it did on those rare occasions where Yang’s puns actually took Blake off guard and she’d let her laugh actually ring – not that stifled chuckle she’d throw out at Ruby and Weiss’s antics.

“If it wasn’t so cold, I’d say it’s a nice night,” Blake said, voice smooth despite the late hour.

Yang smiled. “Maybe if you weren’t wearing a crop top, you’d feel a little warmer,” she quipped.

Blake’s cheeks reddened, her shoulders curling in. “I’m an adult! Why do people keep telling me to wear more? I-It’s not much different from what you used to wear…”

Yang chuckled. “Whoa, I’m not saying you _have to_ cover up or anything. I mean, if you got it…” Yang said, eyes trailing down Blake’s form. She cleared her throat eyes snapping up to Blake’s, hoping the other woman didn’t notice how her stare lingered. “All I was saying is maybe stick to an actual shirt in winter?” She said, smirking. “Or,” she added, facing forward again, “use the zipper on your coat.”

A moment passed and then Yang had to hold back a laugh as she heard Blake fidgeting with her zipper. Blake let out a long sigh as she settled back in against the fence. They slipped back into a rather comfortable silence, which was abruptly broken by Blake’s next words.

“I missed you,” she said.

Yang wasn’t sure she’d heard it right. Blake had always been on the quiet side, and the wind – though mild at this point – was still loud enough to drown out softer sounds.

“What?” She asked, turning to face her partner.

Blake glanced at Yang, not quite facing her but not completely turned away. “I missed you,” she said again.

Yang blinked. What could she even say to that? _I missed you too_ felt too easy, and she wasn’t ready to admit that, even though Blake had to know it was true. Where did Blake even get off saying that? How could she say that? She didn’t _have to_ miss Yang. Yang was there. She wasn’t going anywhere. She didn’t go anywhere. Hell, she _couldn’t_ go anywhere and Blake had the nerve to…

“You didn’t _have to_ miss me,” Yang said, a little harshly. “Leaving was _your_ choice, Blake. You could’ve stayed. We could’ve—”

“You think me leaving was a choice?” Blake said, pulling away from the fence to face Yang. She tried not to pay attention to the way her voice wavered, desperate and just on the verge of tears. “You think I wanted to leave everyone behind? Leave _you_ behind?”

Yang pushed herself off the railing, eyes set on Blake, right hand digging into wood hard enough to make it creak. “No. I don’t think you wanted to leave us behind. Unlike you, I pay attention when people talk.” Yang’s voice was bitter. “I _know_ you, Blake. You run when you get scared. But it’s still a choice. You could’ve chosen to fight that instinct and stay. I was still there. I would’ve been there for you. We could’ve healed together.” Yang’s grip on the fence tightened, more wood splintering under her hand as she grew more upset.

Blake shook her head, reaching towards her friend with one hand. “Yang—”

“Don’t!” Yang shouted, recoiling slightly and gripping the fence so hard it finally gave under her mechanical strength, splintering into a million pieces. She stood there a moment, left hand shaking as she looked at her right arm, still balled into a fist. Tears were welling up in her eyes and she brought her right fist down onto the post of the fence next to her, restraining enough so as to not break that too. “Shit,” she muttered, silent tears finally spilling over.

There was a long pause before Blake spoke up. “…Maybe I shouldn’t have come out here,” she said, turning to walk towards the house.

Yang’s head snapped up in an instant, left hand darting out to catch Blake’s. “No! Wait…” she said, her grasp firm but gentle on the other woman’s wrist.

Blake turned with Yang’s tug on her arm, finally looking at her face. Bright violet eyes shining, red cheeks stained with tears.

“Please,” Yang said, shaking her head and stepping closer. “Please, don’t leave right now.”

 _But if you don’t start showing her that you’re **really here** … well, nothing’s really going to get better._ Weiss’s words rang in Blake’s ears and she turned around, squaring her shoulders to Yang’s and taking the woman’s other hand in her own. “I’m here,” she said. Then again, reaching up to wipe a few tears off of Yang’s face. “I’m here.”

Yang nodded, and without thinking too much about it, leaned forward, capturing Blake in a tight embrace. She felt her stiffen in her arms for just a moment before she relaxed, hugging her back. Dull nails scratching at her back as Blake grasped at Yang’s jacket to pull her closer, and Yang couldn’t agree more with the gesture. It was a good hug, a great hug, but it didn’t feel like enough. Yang quickly chalked it up to still working on forgiving Blake for leaving. To readjusting to having her here again. To convincing herself she wasn’t going to leave again. But as she pulled back and Blake pulled back and they were still holding each other close enough to feel the rise and fall of every breath, and she could see her own reflection in Blake’s golden irises, and she could feel her warmth seeping into every fiber of her being, and she was just so real, and solid, and _there…_

It wasn’t a conscious decision. There was never a moment where Yang full-on thought about the fact that she was leaning forward, she just knew she wanted to be closer. Close enough to count all of Blake’s eyelashes if she needed to, close enough to see that Blake actually had a light sprinkling of tan freckles across her cheekbones, close enough to feel her breath –soft and warm— across her lips. Her lips… Yang looked down at Blake’s for a moment, another decision that was made for her. And the next part was so simple. Simple to the point that Yang couldn’t for the life of her figure out why she hadn’t done it a year ago. She tilted her head just slightly, slanting her lips across Blake’s, ghosting over them for only a moment before pressing forward that last centimeter.

There was no coherent thought at that point. There hadn’t been since Blake was in her space, and she just couldn’t believe how soft the other woman’s lips were against her own. Whatever their problem was could definitely be sorted out later because _dust_ this… this was so good. And Yang needed good.

Yang’s left hand trailed up the side of Blake’s body, coming up to cradle her face. She felt hands on the buckle of her belt tug her forward, knocking their hips together and bringing every inch of their bodies that much closer. She gripped at Blake’s waist with her right hand, squeezing gently. She was a little nervous about the iffy control she still had with her new arm, but honestly, she was kissing Blake, so really, control flew out the window about thirty seconds ago.

…Wait. Shit. _Shit._ She was kissing _Blake._

The thought came to her abruptly and she pulled away the second it popped into her head. The impulsive part of her that had taken over groaned with being pulled away from such an amazing sensation, but the logical part of her that was now playing catch up was rapidly turning fifty shades of red and staggering backwards now that Blake’s body was no longer holding her upright. She had absolutely no idea what to say, and Blake wasn’t saying anything either. She was just standing there; flushed, slightly breathless, eyes lidded… Yang had a feeling she could easily lean in for seconds and Blake would happily reciprocate. She fought the thought from her head, taking in shallow gasps of air that fogged the night.

“I…” Yang started, taking another step back.

Blake finally seemed to catch up to the situation they were in now, arms finally lowering to her sides, having been left outstretched from Yang’s sudden retreat. Her eyes still locked with her partner’s, despite the way her cheeks grew redder. “Yang, it’s –” Blake started, taking a careful step towards her.

Yang took a few more steps back, shaking her head. “I just… I need… I need some space,” she mumbled, turning and walking briskly in the other direction, towards the old barn.

“ _Yang!”_ Blake shouted at her retreating form, one hand reaching out. She took one step in Yang’s direction before stopping and letting out a sigh.

 

The irony that she had just ran away from Blake was definitely _not_ lost on her – but she just couldn’t think straight with Blake that close. Once Yang was inside the barn, she quickly shut the door behind her and made her way over to the small pile of dry hay next to Bumblebee. She let herself fall back into the pile, letting out a soft _oof_ as it gave a little more than she was expecting. After resituating until she was in a decently comfortable position, Yang let out a long breath and covered her face with her hands. What was she _thinking?_ Kissing Blake? That was single handedly the worst possible thing she probably could’ve done and she couldn’t even figure out why she actually _did_ it. She never just _kissed_ Weiss when they hugged. She never even thought about kissing Weiss. But hell, pop a Blake in front of her for more than five minutes and BAM!

And really, that’s how it felt. Yang felt like she just got hit with a truck full of feelings she didn’t even realize existed and now had to try and navigate through them. As if the tension hadn’t already been palpable before… what the hell was it going to be like now?

Maybe they could just pretend it didn’t happen. It was only one time. No one else knew about it, and Yang was fairly certain Blake wouldn’t mention it to the rest of the team… which would’ve been easier to know for sure if she hadn’t left the other woman standing outside in the cold.

Yang sighed, pulling her hands from her face and staring up at the patchy ceiling of the barn.

“Shit,” she said. “Shiiiiiiiiiiit.”

She sighed, briefly glancing at the door to the barn and wondering if she should try to head Blake off now. There was always a possibility that she could confide in Weiss… or Ruby, but given the circumstances, Yang had a feeling Blake wouldn’t turn to her sister – and on the other hand Blake and Weiss were never really that close. Yang frowned a little at that, realizing – really — Blake wasn’t particularly close with anyone else on the team; and Yang could’ve just really messed up the one decent connection she had by doing something stupid and impulsive. Sure, things between them hadn’t been perfect and were still far from, but she truly believed they would’ve been able to work through it. It was _Blake_ after all.

But now…

Yang let out another heavy sigh, shivering slightly as the coolness of the night finally started to catch up to her. She wasn’t sure what she was planning to do. It wasn’t exactly a great plan to freeze to death in a barn, but it was looking like the better option with the other one being a risk at running into Blake right now. She snuggled a little further into the hay pile, deciding that decision could still afford to be made in a few minutes.

 

Blake wasn’t entirely sure what to do with herself. She’d watched Yang bid a quick retreat into the barn and was now back on the porch of the farmhouse the rest of her party was staying in, but she couldn’t quite bring herself to walk in. What if Weiss was still up? She hadn’t been outside too long, so it was a definite possibility. And if Blake came back in without Yang… that would probably warrant questions.

_What happened?_

_Where’s Yang?_

_Is she okay?_

_Are you okay?_

Blake honestly didn’t even know the answer to that last one. _Was_ she okay? Yang – her best friend, her partner, the person she trusted more than anyone, even now – had just kissed her and… she kissed her back. Blake felt the corner of her mouth twitch up for half a second before falling back into an unsure frown. As nice as the kiss was at the time, it was a can of worms that Yang obviously wasn’t ready to deal with in any capacity. So, where did that leave Blake? Where did that leave them?

Blake sighed heavily, leaning on the railing of the porch and staring off at the barn.

She could always wait for Yang to come back to the house. There was no way she’d spend the entire night out in the barely-there shack. Not without freezing. Besides, they still needed to talk, and if Yang wasn’t ready yet that was fine – if there was one thing Blake understood, it was the importance of getting space when you need it. Though the role reversal threw her for a bit of a loop, she’d happily wait until Yang was ready to talk. After all the time she’d spent away from her… it seemed a fitting courtesy, no matter how much it frustrated her.

A few minutes later, Blake was pulled from her thoughts by the sound of the barn door sliding open. Her ears twitched up only a second before her eyes scanned to see Yang emerging from the building, slowly making her way over to the farmhouse, eyes downcast. As she got closer, Yang looked up at Blake standing on the porch, a surprised look crossing her face for a moment before she forced a small smile. Blake gave her a tight smile in response, feeling the tension rolling off of the other woman in waves.

Straightening up, she walked closer to the stairs where Yang was ascending.

“Yang—” Blake started, but was quickly cut off by the look of defeat Yang threw her way. She actually had to hold in a gasp because, honestly, she’d never seen the other woman look so tired. Not even after spending an entire weekend cramming for one of Port’s tests. Or when they went on their first real mission with Oobleck.

“Blake…” Yang said, shaking her head and looking down. “I… I just want to sleep. Please,” she continued, looking back up, eyes pleading. “Please, can we just… sleep?”

As much as Blake wanted answers, wanted to talk and understand everything that just happened, she knew it wouldn’t be fair to push now. And the fire inside was sounding nicer by the minute as the temperature continued to plummet as the night wore on. “I… of course,” she said.

Yang let out a low breath, shoulders relaxing by centimeters as she walked to the front door, pausing for a moment with her hand on the handle. “…Thanks,” she said, glancing at Blake from the corner of her eye.

Blake managed to whisper back a quick “yeah” before Yang twisted the handle and they both wandered back into the old farmhouse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And apparently this is going to be several chapters haha (means to write a one-shot, ends up starting a new project... yeesh) Anyway! Please let me know what you think. Leave kudos, and I always live to read comments, so feel free to drop one of those too! I'm open to everything! Hellos, love, critiques, ANYTHING! I majored in literature so I'm used to criticism and really want to deliver quality material. :) Hope you've enjoyed so far. Let's see where this thing goes.
> 
> PS I wrote up through the kiss before ep5 aired and I'm super proud I actually hit a couple of things mentioned in the actual episode (i.e. worrying over druncle qrow)


	2. Memories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yooo! Chapter 2 is here! Sorry, updates will be a little all over the place until I get myself on a decent writing schedule. Hope you enjoy! (Please note it's like 3 AM and I really just wanted to post this before I fell asleep on my laptop, so some grammar and spelling may bee (hah!) off and I apologize -- will definitely proofread in the morning!)

Yang didn’t sleep well. Despite the exhaustion seeping into her bones, she still managed to wake up just about every hour until she noticed the sun was beginning to peak in through the windows, and decided to just give up.

Sighing, she rolled over so she could look at Blake, still fast asleep. She couldn’t even be envious of the fact the woman had managed to get a decent night’s sleep.

Had Blake always looked so beautiful when she slept? It was so nice to see the stress of life drained from her face, no creases of worry lining her forehead… leaving only dark eyelashes feathering onto pink cheeks.

Yang frowned. Were those weird things to be thinking? Especially after she…

The events of the previous night replayed in Yang’s head for about the millionth time. She groaned quietly, burying her face into her pillow. This was not the most opportune time to have to deal with those feelings. What with the end of the world on the horizon, kissing Blake _should_ be the furthest thing from her mind. But it wasn’t. It was the damn first thing she thought about every single time she woke up throughout the night. She wasn’t entirely sure what to make of that. She wasn’t stupid, she knew Blake meant something to her; and if she was being honest, maybe it wasn’t the first time she’d wanted to kiss her… but it was the first time she _actually did it._

Yang flipped over onto her back, arms stretching out at her sides as she let out a long breath. _Shit,_ she did not need this right now.

“Yang?”

Being so caught up in her own head, hearing her name nearly made her jump out of her skin, even if it was only said as a whisper. She looked to her left and saw her sister looking at her, silver eyes sparkling with curiosity.

“Yeah?” she replied, hushed so as to not wake Blake and the Ice Queen. Sure, Weiss had mellowed out, but she still wasn’t going to be the one to wake her up in the morning.

“Are you okay?” Ruby asked.

Yang turned to lounge on her side, as she spoke to her sister. “Of course,” she said, “why wouldn’t I be?”

Ruby glanced down, a bit pensive. “I just… you were…” Ruby sighed, looking back up at her sister. “You know you can talk to me, right?” She paused a moment. “About anything.”

Yang softened. She hadn’t really realized how much her baby sister had grown up in the past year. Yang tossed her a weak smile. “Thanks, sis. But I’m fine. Really.”

Ruby glanced over at where Blake was sleeping for a moment before her eyes drew back to Yang. “…Right.” Ruby quietly slipped out of her sleeping bag and starting pulling on her boots. Yang cocked an eyebrow.

“In a hurry to get somewhere?” Yang whispered. “I mean… I think over half our party is still out cold,” she said with a smirk, gesturing to their other two teammates.

Ruby opened her mouth to speak only to be cut off by the grumbling of her stomach. She rubbed the back of her neck. “Eh heh. Just thought we could all use some food. Weiss and I found some in one of the other rooms yesterday.”

Yang stood up with a chuckle, slipping her boots on as well. “Let me give you a hand,” she said, happy for the opportunity to keep her mind and body busy.

 

 

The sisters walked down the hallway towards the storage room in silence, their boots thudding along the wooden boards of the old house. Though Yang couldn’t exactly place why, there was definitely tension in the air. She glanced to her right, looking down at her sister – though not as far as she would’ve had to in the past. Ruby hadn’t just grown emotionally, but physically too – by quite a few inches in the time she was away. A part of Yang’s heart ached at how fast she was growing up.

“…What?” Ruby asked, cocking an eyebrow at her sister.

Yang shook her head. “Nothing,” she said, tucking her hands behind her head and shrugging. “You’re just taller than I remember.”

Ruby straightened up a bit. “Hah! Knew drinking milk would do the trick,” she rushed out under her breath.

Yang smirked. “Suuuuuuure, little sister.”

“Hey! You don’t know! I could’ve been as tall as Weiss _forever,”_ Ruby said, her eyes going wide.

Yang chuckled. Leave it to Ruby to be able to make her do that right now. Yang supposed there was a reason she was picked to be leader, and she was no less proud now than she was back when Ruby got the job – even if the title did come from Ozpin.

“That would be tragic, wouldn’t it?” Yang said, slinging her arm around Ruby’s shoulders.

“Heh, yeah…” Ruby said. As they continued walking, Ruby grew a little quieter.

Yang squeezed her shoulder. “Hey…” she started slowly, making her sister meet her gaze. “ _You_ okay, Rubes?”

Ruby shrugged. “I mean… yeah. As good as possible I guess.” She let out a humorless laugh. “We kind of have to be, right? It’s part of the job.”

Yang frowned. How could she tell her sister it wasn’t? Yang was far from okay, but she had to keep up the act for the good of the team, for the good of the world at this point. Luckily, she was saved from having to think up a response.

“This is it,” Ruby said, pointing to the door at the end of the hallway. She pushed open the door and pulled out her scroll, turning on its flashlight. “I’m really getting tired of this ‘no lighting’ thing,” she said with a sigh, leading Yang into the back of the room where there were cans of food stacked along the walls.

Yang chuckled. “Reminds me of when we were kids, remember?” she asked, picking cans of food off the wall. “When we’d lose power, and dad would try to make it a whole game – like we were cavemen or something. You always wanted no part of it,” Yang said with a smile.

“Cavemen weren’t _cool,”_ Ruby said, like it was obvious.

Yang laughed. “I know. Which is why _I_ suggested we make it so that we were huntresses out on a mission.” Yang grinned at the memory. “Worked like a charm.”

“And prepared us for the real world. Apparently,” Ruby added.

Yang chuckled. “Yeah. Apparently.” She turned around, arms full of canned food. “Think this’ll be enough?”

“Enough to nurse Qrow’s hangover… maybe…” Ruby said, though any humor she was going for fell flat.

Yang frowned. “Hey,” she said, shuffling all the cans into the crook of one arm so she could hug her sister with the other. “We’re gonna get through this, sis. Okay?” She pulled back and gave Ruby’s shoulder a comforting squeeze. “And I know things have been…” she trailed off, unsure how to finish her thought. “But, uh, I’m always here for you, got it?”

Ruby let out a breath before nodding, a frown set on her lips. “Right. Got it,” she said. She glanced up forcing a small smile. “Thanks, Yang.”

Yang wasn’t convinced by Ruby’s response in the slightest, but she had no room to talk, having denied her sister’s solace earlier. Instead of pressing the issue, Yang squeezed her shoulder one more time and took a step back, cradling the food in her arms. “C’mon,” she said with a weak smile, “I’m sure people will be a lot more eager to start our shitty snow travels with a decent breakfast in their stomachs.”

 

 

Blake woke up to the sound of boots clunking across creaky floorboards. Her ears curled in a bit, trying to get the noise to subside. It was way too early to be awake, let alone awake with _boots_ on. She groaned softly as she heard the boots stop in front of where she was trying to sleep. There was the rustling of someone crouching down and she braced herself to be poked awake, only to be met with hesitation from the other person. She could feel them staring down at her, and she wasn’t entirely awake enough to know if she should feel afraid or just self-conscious.

After what felt like an eternity, the other person let out a small sigh and Blake felt smooth metal gently brush across her arm.

“Hey, time to get up.”

Blake’s ears twitched up at the voice and she felt a blush creep up her neck. She cracked one eye open, looking up at Yang whose hand still rested on her arm. Yang caught her gaze for only a moment before looking away.

“We overslept a bit,” Yang said, as Blake sat up.

“Overslept a bit for what?” Blake said, rubbing at her eyes. “Are we on a deadline now?”

Yang chuckled humorlessly. “I honestly don’t know anymore,” she said, hand finally slipping off of Blake’s arm. “I mean, I guess I never really _knew._ But now…” she finally looked back up at Blake with a sad smile and a sigh.

Blake studied her partner’s face. She couldn’t get over how different Yang looked after all their time apart. It wasn’t necessarily bad changes, but some weren’t exactly good either. Yang had thinned out a bit around her cheeks, the last traces of innocent youth giving way to the young woman she now was. It defined her cheekbones a bit more and made her eyes look more intense. Or maybe that was just Yang now. Intense. Whatever the case, it brought out more of her natural beauty which Blake couldn’t deny she appreciated. But…

She also looked worn. And tired. And… done. She just looked done. And _that_ worried Blake more than anything.

“Hey,” Blake said, softly placing her hand on Yang’s cheek. Yang’s eyes went wide, body rigid, and Blake awkwardly withdrew her hand, settling it back on her lap, her eyes downcast.

“I…” Yang said. There was a pause and the next thing Blake knew a can of tuna was being shoved into her field of view. She jumped a little, ears perking up. “Food?” Yang asked, face burning.

Blake reached out, tentatively taking the can out of Yang’s hands. “Um… thanks,” she mumbled, ears twitching as she met Yang’s uncomfortable gaze. She grimaced on the inside. _Dust,_ was this going to be what their relationship was now?

Yang rubbed the back of her neck, standing up. “Yeah. Don’t mention it.”

Blake sighed, watching Yang wander over to the fireplace and poke at the still burning fire. After a moment she looked back down at the can of tuna in her hands and popped it open. Though she was thankful Yang had managed to grab one of her favorites, she had to admit even the tuna tasted a little bland on her tongue.

 

 

“We should probably head out soon,” Ruby said, staring out the window as everyone finished up eating.

“Kiddo’s right,” Qrow said, stumbling and leaning against the doorframe. “Storm’s finally cleared out. We should get movin’ b’fore ‘nother one hits.” His words came out slow and slurred, and Yang clocked the way Ruby’s jaw set as Qrow uncapped his flask and took another swig of whatever alcohol he’d managed to dig up in the old house. She wandered over to her little sister, slinging an arm around her shoulders.

“Sounds like a good plan to me, sis!” she said with a warm smile.

“ _Great_ plan,” Maria said, breaking the side hug between the two sisters. “Except for the part where we’re miles from civilization and no one knows if we’ll actually be lucky enough to stumble along another abandoned _anything_ before the sun sets again.”

There was a moment of silence where everyone let that sink in. She did have a point.

“Well… it’s an old farm with a lot of buildings, right?” Blake said, catching everyone’s attention. “There might be an old vehicle or something in one of them we could use.” She shrugged.

Ruby nodded. “Probably. We should split up, search the buildings in pairs.” She turned to her partner. “Weiss, you’re with me, we’ll check the East side of the property. Blake, Yang,” she said, turning to each respectively, “you can search the West.”

Yang’s shoulders tensed. “Um, Ruby, I—”

Ruby turned to Maria, glancing at Oscar and then Qrow. Oscar looked uneasy, but better than yesterday. “Maria, can you stay in the house? Maybe search for supplies with Oscar and… Qrow?” Ruby honestly wasn’t sure if she should even count her uncle, concerned the only “supplies” he’d be any use packing might be fermented.

“Usually I don’t like being bossed around by _children_ , but since you asked… of course,” the woman said with a smirk.

Ruby smiled. “Thanks,” she said as Maria turned and carted Oscar and Qrow further into the house. Ruby turned to Weiss. “Okay, let’s get to it.”

Yang tried to catch her sister as she started to walk away. “Ruby, wait, I—” she let out a sigh as her attempts went unnoticed. Slowly, she turned to Blake, whose eyes were downcast as she rubbed her left arm with her right hand, shoulders curling in on themselves. Her ears curved down, the way they did when she was upset, and Yang couldn’t help but feel a little guilty. “Come on,” she said, snapping Blake out of her trance, “we should get searching. The sooner we find something, the sooner we can hit the road.”

“R-Right,” Blake said, dropping her hand from her arm and jogging to catch up with Yang who had turned to make her way out of the house.

Blake trailed silently behind Yang as they trekked out to the old barn where Yang had parked Bumblebee the day before.

And where she had run off to after…

Blake squinted, and clenched her teeth, not letting herself finish that thought.

“Help me with this?” Yang said, gesturing to the barn door that had been blocked by a decent amount of snow.

Blake nodded, stepping up next to Yang and helping her yank the door open. It groaned with effort as it slid open, grinding against ice and fresh snow.

“Whoa!” Yang lost her grip on the door, reeling back and trying to catch her balance.

On instinct, Blake’s hand shot out, resting against Yang’s lower back to help guide her upright. Once she was balanced, Yang shot a glance over her shoulder at Blake, hoping the cold was enough of an excuse for the blush that was obviously scrawling across her face.

“Thanks,” Yang said, catching her breath from the scare.

“Of course,” Blake said, ears twitching restlessly.

Yang stood there a moment longer, hyper aware of Blake’s hand, still resting on the small of her back; soft against the sliver of skin peeking out of the bottom of Yang’s jacket.

“Um…” Yang said, stepping forward, towards the door.

Blake looked down at her own hand, eyes widening as if just noticing it was still outstretched against Yang’s body. She quickly pulled it back, cheeks burning.

“Sorry,” Blake mumbled.

Yang didn’t respond, making her way into the barn. Blake had to jog to catch up to her again. This was _awful_. Blake never thought things could be more awkward between them since she came back, but the universe just seemed to always want to prove her wrong.

They slipped into the barn, working together to close the door again. Once it was shut, they turned to look around the barn. Yang sighed, walking towards the back of the building as Blake followed, not far behind. Despite spending a few times in the barn yesterday Yang never looked further than where she’d parked her bike, so there was a lot of area to check. The barn looked like it had been partially repurposed to act as storage, so there was a possibility of something useful being hidden in the back.

Blake watched as Yang got to work searching, all business. It was hard for her to continue to bite her tongue about what happened, especially since now every single time they so much as touched Yang completely short-circuited. It was going to be a problem if anyone else on the team noticed. But, Blake was determined to stick to her decision of letting Yang come to her when she was ready. Her own feelings be damned.

With a sigh, Blake stopped to examine some items on a nearby shelf as Yang continued towards the back of the barn. The Faunus picked up a random, old, rusted can, examining it for a moment before she heard her partner call out.

“Hey! I think I found something,” Yang’s voice rang from the back of the barn.

Blake placed the can back on the shelf, making her way towards her teammate’s voice. As she got closer, she heard the unmistakable sound of Yang’s gasp, and saw her stumble backwards, into the makeshift aisle that separated the two rows of shelves. Confused and a little concerned, Blake ran over to her partner, settling into her fighting stance next to her.

“What is it?” She asked, entire body on guard and ready to act.

“I… nothing. I’m sorry,” Yang said, voice soft and a little ashamed. “Just seeing things.”

Blake felt her body relax a tick, her heartrate slowly going back to normal.

“I still get flashes from that night,” Yang continued, right hand reaching over to quell the shaking in her left.

Blake felt her heart sink. She’d noticed it last night too, the way Yang’s hand trembled. She’d thought it was just a side-effect from the cold air and high-strung emotions, but now…

“Do you think Adam’s still out there?” Yang’s words snapped Blake out of her own head, bringing her back to the present.

Blake’s ears wilted forward as she shook her head. “I don’t know,” she started, her voice soft. “If he went back to the White Fang there would have been serious consequences.” Blake thought back on Adam for a moment, before looking back up at Yang. “But, he never really liked people telling him what to do.” She saw Yang’s eyes go wider, before those lilac eyes shifted to look out the barn window. Blake frowned, stepping a little closer to Yang with each word. “Adam’s strong, but his real power comes from control.” Blake’s voice shook as she said her next words, the years spent at Adam’s side rushing back to the forefront of her mind. How she could never go back and undo the things he’d done… the things _she’d_ done. “He used to get in my head, make me feel small. But…” her voice hardened again, “But, now I see he just wanted to pull me down to his size.”

She noticed the way Yang looked down at her right hand, brow furrowed and eyes angry. She stepped just a bit closer, grasping Yang’s hand between her own before she could even think about it. No matter what happened, she had to make sure Yang knew she was here, and that she wasn’t going anywhere. She’d give anything just for Yang to feel safe. This wasn’t about… additional feelings she may or may not be harboring, but just wholehearted reassurance. At least she could tell herself that to make it more acceptable to do what she was currently doing.

“Hey,” Blake said, looking into Yang’s wide eyes. She plastered on a soft smile. “I said it before and I _meant it._ I’m _not_ leaving. And if we ever see him again, I promise I’ll be there,” she continued. Blake tried to ignore the way her heart was racing in her chest with the soft look Yang was throwing her way. Gods, she wanted to kiss her again. Why couldn’t she kiss her again? Instead she settled for saying more words with the sheer hope it would keep her mouth busy enough to not just lean in. “I’ll protect you.” Everything in the next few seconds happened so fast Blake almost got whiplash.

Yang’s soft gaze from just a second ago was replaced with one of confusion and… hurt?

“What?” Yang said, incredulously.

Blake couldn’t, for the life of her, figure out what she’d said wrong. “What?” she said back.

The next thing Blake knew, Yang’s hand was out of hers and she was making her way back to the front of the barn.

“Nothing,” Yang said, though it sure as hell did _not_ sound like nothing. “Just… I’m going to get Weiss and Ruby. They’ll be able to help us hook that flatbed up to Bumblebee. Then we should be able to get to Argus. Finally…”

Blake stood there feeling a little shocked, hand still reaching out in Yang’s general direction. “But… what about…?”

“It’s fine,” Yang called from the front of the barn, looking back at Blake with her arms crossed over her chest. “Come on, we need to get moving. It’s going to be hard enough driving a motorcycle on snow with a flatbed. I don’t need to wait for the next storm to hit.”

Blake’s ears twitched down, a frown settling on her lips for a second as she finally looked over and saw the flatbed Yang had found.

“Right,” she said, composing herself to the best of her ability. She straightened her spine, forcing her ears into their normal position atop her head, and made her way toward Yang, who was still standing tensely near the doorframe, a frown of her own etched across her beautiful features. Blake hesitated in front of her as they stood in silence for a moment. Yang was studying the floor intensely. “…Yang?”

At the sound of her name, she glanced up, eyes unsure for just a moment. She opened her mouth as if to say something before shaking her head and turning to grab the barn door. “Give me a hand?” was all she ended up saying.

 

 

About an hour later – with the help of a very convenient Weiss – Bumblebee had a shiny new hitch and was ready to brave the journey to Argus.

Yang sighed as Oscar, Ruby, and Blake helped her attach the flatbed to the new hitch. “I feel like I just traded in my bike for a minivan,” she said.

“But now it’s fun for the whoooooole family!” Ruby said with a grin, pulling Blake and Oscar into each of her sides. Yang couldn’t help but smirk at the uncomfortable expressions on both their faces as her little sister beamed.

Weiss, was not as amused. “Tsk, let them _go,”_ she said, rolling her eyes at her partner. “We need to get moving if we want to have a chance at reaching the city before dark. Gods only know if that’s even possible.”

Ruby groaned, but released Blake and Oscar from her clutches. “Weeeeeeiiiiiissssssss, I thought you were more… I don’t know… _chill_ now!”

Weiss raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms, hips cocked to one side. “I _can_ be ‘chill,’” she said. “But if we keep delaying now, we’ll all be _really really_ chill.” She added, gesturing to the snow. “ _Soon._ ”

Ruby laughed as she scratched the back of her head. “Yeahhhhh, you might have a point…” she rushed out quietly.

“Look would you two quit bickering,” Yang said, mounting her bike. “I _will_ leave without you.” She teased in her best motherly voice.

“Shotgun!” Ruby called, scrambling into the flatbed.

Weiss rolled her eyes again. “Ruby, it’s a motorcycle and a flatbed. There is no shotgun.”

“Not with that attitude there’s not! But with _my_ attitude there’s at least _two_ shotgun spots! Blake has one…” Ruby said, pointing to her teammate who had made herself comfortable in the front left corner of the flatbed. She sped over to the right corner and sat down. “And _I_ got the other!”

Weiss stood at the foot of the flatbed, unamused for a moment before she climbed up and planted herself right between Blake and Ruby. “And would this be a _third_ shotgun then?”

Ruby grinned. “That’s the spirit, Weiss!”

Oscar looked over at her as he settled into his own spot. “I… how are you so… ‘up’ right now?” he asked.

Ruby chuckled and rubbed the back of her neck. “It’s taking a looooooooot of effort,” she admitted. “But,” she said, a little more seriously, “it’s what leaders do.”

Maria chuckled. “You’re very sentimental, child.”

“Damn right she is,” Qrow slurred, leaning against the edge of the flatbed. He pointed – or attempted to point at – Ruby, a small smile on his face. “Proud of you, Kiddo.”

Ruby frowned slightly. “Right.”

“Yang,” Weiss called. “Ready to go?”

“Been ready,” Yang said, tossing a wink back at the group. “Just waiting for the kids to quiet down.”

Objectively, Blake knew Yang did not shoot that wink directly at her, but it still hit her like a ton of bricks as she remembered a time where her partner _had_ done that. She remembered the way the soft evening sunlight passed through the tall windows of their old classroom and bounced off Yang’s golden curls, casting a glow of light around her, like she was some kind of goddess. The way Yang had actually followed up on that dance she promised…

The rev of Bumblebee’s engine effectively cut off any further thoughts down _that_ particular road, and honestly, Blake was a little relieved. She obviously wasn’t on the same page as Yang right now, and letting her mind wander to simpler times would be nothing but a distraction. Instead, she let her gaze drift between Yang and her other two teammates that continued to bicker, as they made their way down the snow-dusted road.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm aiming to always include any canon bee moments, and also want to get as close to canon as possible, with some obvious exceptions. But I'm aiming to still have Saphron and everyone in once we're in Argus! All dialogue credit goes to CRWBY and Miles and Kerry for the barn scene. Please feel free to leave kudos and comments. I'm open to anything, so please feel free. Also, I realize this chapter is a little all over the place, I'm working on getting familiar with writing everyone. So, please let me know what you think.
> 
> If you want to, hit me up on Tumblr @empressofedge 
> 
> Have a great day/ night! (NOTE: I'm going to try my best to have a new chapter or two before the new ep comes out on the 29th!)


	3. Again

Yang was relieved when they reached the crest of the hill overlooking the city of Argus. Driving a motorcycle on snow was just about as fun as she imagined it would be, and she couldn’t wait to get Bumblebee parked for a while.

The journey itself had been rather quick, and only slightly eventful. Most of the energy of the trip taken up by Ruby talking animatedly to Weiss or Maria, and Yang trying not to skid off the path and into the trees. They’d managed to not run into any Grimm along the way, which was a bit of a relief, seeing as Yang was barely awake enough to drive, let alone punch even a Beowolf.

She stopped at the top of the hill, enjoying the view for a moment with a small smile on her face. Argus looked beautiful from there, sunset just beginning to paint the city below in orange and purple hues.

She sighed, turning to look at the rest of her team behind her. “Ladies and gentlemen,” Yang announced, “we have arrived in Argus.”

 

Getting down the hill was… more adventurous than Yang would’ve liked, but she’d managed to do it without an actual accident, so she’d take it for what it was. After finding a place to store Bumblebee just inside the city walls, Yang sighed with a stretch, and looked at her team.

“Do you think Jaune and the others made it here?” She asked, a small frown tugging at her lips.

Ruby gasped pulling out her scroll and finding Jaune’s contact info. Yang couldn’t help but smirk as she noticed he was in Ruby’s scroll as “Vomit Boy” still. The group waited eagerly as the scroll rang a couple times.

“ _Ruby!?”_ Jaune’s voice filled the other line and Ruby’s face lit up.

“Jaune!”

“You have no idea how happy I am to hear your voice,” Jaune said. “We were starting to get worried…”

Ruby’s face softened, and she shook her head. “I told you we’d be here.”

“I… I know,” he said. There was a pause before he seemed to actually hear what Ruby just said. “Wait. Here? Like, in the city?”

Ruby chuckled. “Just pulled in actually. The trip was…”

“I hooked up a flatbed to a motorcycle. It was wild,” Yang called out.

“Uh… sounds like it?” Jaune said, sounding distracted. There was a small commotion on the other end of the call, a couple of voices in the background and some static sounds. When Jaune spoke again it sounded further away. “No, wait, Nor—”

“Helloooooooooo?” Nora’s voice rang over the line. “Are you guys meeting us now or not? Because we were just about to eat and I. am. _starving_!”

“Nora, they’ll probably want to rest a bit first,” Ren said, softly.

“Ahhhh, why don’t you just come over here?” Jaune said, cutting in again and reclaiming his scroll. “We can start making food now so Nora doesn’t eat Saph out of house and home.”

Ruby cocked an eyebrow, looking around at the rest of her party that looked equally confused. “Ehhh… who?”

 

Saphron and her wife Terra were nice, Blake decided, leaning against the back of one of their couches as Ruby rattled off a million questions about what Jaune was like as a kid, to his older sister. Blake’s attention, however, was on the floor in front of her, where Weiss and Yang were playing with Saphron and Terra’s son, Adrian.

Blake had never considered herself a fan of children. She didn’t dislike them exactly; but, being an only child with a small family, she wasn’t around them a lot, and was always unsure of what to do when she was. Yang, on the other hand, was a natural, and it showed. Showed in the way she made airplane noises as she flew the toy vehicle through the air and into the outstretched hands of the toddler. In the way she smiled and cooed when Adrian would make little bubbling noises or laugh.

Blake was mesmerized that this side of her partner still existed, after everything. That she still had it in her to smile so carefree and genuine. It mesmerized her, but it didn’t surprise her. Yang was strong, she knew that, but to make it all look so easy…

Yang looked up, and met Blake’s gaze, her smile falling into one a little more sheepish as a blush tinted her cheeks. Blake flushed too, at getting caught staring. Gods, it’s like she wasn’t even trying to be discreet anymore.

She glanced away, focusing on the conversation between Ruby and Saphron for a moment.

“…and that’s how Jauney, here, learned he was actually really good at braiding,” Saphron said, pinching her brother’s cheek. She chuckled when he pulled away, crossing his arms over his chest with a huff. “Oh, come on, baby brother, don’t act like you weren’t super proud of yourself.”

“Hey!” Jaune said, pointing at his sister. “I’m not a baby! _That,_ ” he said, swinging his hand to point at his nephew, “is a baby.”

Adrian cocked his head to the side and huffed.

Yang laughed, picking Adrian up and cradling him in the crook of her left arm, letting him play with the tips of her fingers on her right hand. She shook her head with a smile, looking down at him. “Yes, he is. And he’s such a cutie!” she said, her voice getting high and silly, the way it did when she would talk to Zwei.

Blake tried to ignore the way that scene made her heart flutter inside her chest. Which was actually quite easy when she jumped, startled, as Nora came plowing into the living room from the kitchen, a tray of sandwiches extended in her hands.

“Diiiiinner!” Nora announced, rushing over to put the tray down on the coffee table, before grabbing two halves, alternating bites between left and right sandwich.

Ren came sauntering in after her, the calm after the storm, and set down a round of drinks for everyone to enjoy.

“Nora,” he said with a soft smile, “just be sure to leave some for everyone else.”

Nora simply grinned, biting into her food again as Ren settled down next to her, with a half a sandwich and a drink.

As everyone delved back into conversation and downtime, Blake was still a little caught up in the commotion of what just happened, until she felt someone tap her arm. She looked to her left where Yang now stood next to her, sandwich-half extended and a warm smile on her face.

Blake grinned and took the food from her hand. “So,” she said quietly, “food interactions are okay?”

Yang leaned against the couch next to Blake and bit into her own meal, humming thoughtfully. “Yep,” she said around her first bite.

Blake chuckled, taking a bite of her own food. At least she was honest.

Yang sighed, looking around at everyone else laughing and chatting away. “I’m sorry,” she said after a moment, looking over to Blake, “but… for just one night… can we pretend like things aren’t weird?”

Blake was taken a little off guard by Yang’s request, but she didn’t even think before responding. “Yeah, I think I’d like that.”

Yang nodded, taking another bite of her food. “Cool.”

“Yeah.”

After a couple beats of uneasy silence, Yang sighed. “We’re still being weird, aren’t we?”

Blake laughed. “Yes,” she said.

Yang smirked. “More weird?”

Blake smiled, shrugging and taking another bite of food. “Probably.”

“Damn,” Yang said around a chuckle. “Well then, come on, goal for the night: make this normal,” she said, gesturing between her and the Faunus.

“I don’t think actively _trying_ to make things less weird by simply saying ‘make it normal’ is going to work, Yang.”

“Ye of little faith,” Yang said with a smile. “Come on, Blake, _commit._ Commit to the normal.”

Blake sighed, but smiled. “This isn’t going to fix anything.”

Yang nodded. “I know,” she said, a little sad. “But…” she sighed and shrugged, the playfulness that was there just a second ago deflating a little.

 _Nope._ Blake cleared her throat.

“You’re really good with Adrian,” Blake said. She wanted to take it back instantly, but Yang lit up again, so she’d call it a win.

“He’s a good kid. Nothing like Ruby at that age,” Yang said with a chuckle.

Blake grinned. “Why am I not surprised to hear that our fearless leader was a troublemaker?”

“Because, when has she ever not been?” Yang said, looking over at her little sister, who was laughing at some pictures Saphron had of the Arc family as kids.

“She did explode on the first day of school,” Blake recalled, biting into her food as she followed Yang’s gaze.

Yang chuckled. “Yeah. She mentioned you were there for that…” Yang smiled at the memory. Her first night at Beacon. Who’d have thought this is where her and Blake would’ve ended up after that night?

“It was truly incredible,” Blake said. “I mean… what an entrance.”

“How bad was it exactly?” Yang asked, turning to face Blake.

Blake kept a straight face, still looking at their leader. “There was a crater,” Blake said, matter-of-fact. “And it was _Weiss,_ so…”

“That’s my sister, folks,” Yang said with a laugh. “Pissing off an heiress and damaging school property, all on her first day,” She sighed, placing a hand to her chest. “I raised her well.”

“You did, though,” Blake said, without hesitation. “I mean, look at her. Moved ahead two whole grades and a leader of a team of huntresses? Not to mention she’s, optimistic, kind, compassionate, loyal…” Blake shook her head and shrugged. “I’d say, whoever raised someone like that did well.”

Yang was a little taken aback by Blake’s sincerity. She’d never quite felt she did the best for Ruby, having only two years of life experience on her. But the way Blake put it…

“Do you really think that?” Yang asked, trying to get her partner to meet her eyes.

Blake turned her head slightly, glancing up at Yang through dark lashes. “Of course,” she said.

Yang smiled, a light blush spreading across her cheeks. “I… thanks,” she said, breaking eye contact. “I don’t think anyone’s ever really mentioned it before, y’know? So… ehem, yeah, thanks.”

Blake smiled into her next bite. “Anytime,” she said, softly.

Maybe there was a chance for some normal, yet. Maybe a new, better, normal. A normal where Blake _could_ look at Yang playing with the baby. A normal where she could smile down at the scene, and Yang could catch her looking and just smile back, maybe throw her a stupid wink to ruin the moment, but – really – it would just make it better. A normal where she could lean over and plant a kiss on Yang’s cheek, to punctuate her statement of ‘anytime,’ and no one would look over at them like it was a surprise, or weird, or new. A normal where she’d finally stop living in her own head with all of her what ifs, and second guesses. A normal where they were Blake and Yang, again. Partners, only this time, in every sense of the word.

Blake sighed.

“Hey,” Yang said, bumping their shoulders together briefly. “You okay?” She asked around a bite of food. “You look like you’re a million miles away.”

Blake blushed. She’d really gone down a rabbit hole. “Um, yeah.”

“’Yeah’, you’re okay? Or ‘yeah,’ you’re a million miles away?” Yang said, teasing.

Blake grinned, and shoved Yang lightly on the shoulder. If this was the form of physical contact Yang was comfortable with now, she’d take it. Anything was better than the awkwardness they’d had in the morning.

“Maybe it’s both. But you’ll never know,” Blake said, tone light.

Yang smiled, leaning closer. “What happened to ‘pretending things are normal isn’t going to fix anything, Yang?’” She said, in her best Blake impersonation.

Blake shrugged, polishing off the last of her sandwich, and licking the crumbs off the tip of her finger. She glanced back up at her partner whose eyes were fixated on her lips. Whoa, they were _really_ close. Yang seemed to have the same thought as her eyes bounced back up to Blake’s and her whole face turned red. She leaned back just a little, keeping up the ‘normal’ façade.

“It won’t,” Blake said, honestly. “But, if it’s what you need right now… you got it.”

Yang blinked. She wasn’t used to Blake being this forward, but it wasn’t totally surprising at this point.

“Look,” Blake said with a sigh, “I want it to be normal, too. But like you’ve said, it’s going to take time. And – I know I keep saying it, but I mean it – I’ll be here when that time comes, Yang.”

 _Fuck._ She wanted to kiss her. Every single time those damn words ran out of Blake’s mouth, Yang wanted nothing more than to run her lips across Blake’s. It was _stupid_ and _impulsive_ and there was no logic behind it at all, because she was still mad. Mad that Blake didn’t quite seem to get it. Didn’t quite seem to get why their last few conversations went so poorly. But dammit, a few simple words and – for a moment – everything was perfect.

Instead of actually kissing her this time, Yang swallowed and nodded her head, shifting her gaze back to her mostly-eaten sandwich. “I appreciate it,” she said lamely. She felt like kicking herself. At least Blake was trying. “Really,” Yang added, looking over at Blake again, hoping it made her words sound more sincere.

Blake sighed as she looked at Yang, and Yang felt her breath tickle her face. She was glad the couch was supporting her, because she was pretty sure her legs could give out at any moment from the way Blake was looking at her right now. Eyes sad and wanting. And she wanted – more than anything – to give Blake whatever it was she wanted. Judging by the way Blake’s fingers twitched, Yang had a pretty good guess as to what that was. But that was a bad idea. A really bad idea. An idea she shouldn’t even be entertaining, and yet she found her hand moving toward Blake just the same.

She decided on an emotional compromise, reaching out and squeezing Blake’s shoulder gently with her right hand, as she shot her a soft smile. One she hoped reiterated the words she’d said a few times now: _We’re gonna be okay._

 

 

Unfortunately, the inevitable end of the world waits for no one, and it was bound to come out to Jaune, Nora, and Ren eventually. Yang honestly didn’t expect it to be this bad though. She was pretty sure she’d never seen Jaune punch anything out of sheer rage, let alone leave an actual hole in the wall – at least Saphron, Terra, and Adrian had gone out on a walk and didn’t have to deal with that until later.

And _Oscar_. Gods, the poor kid had nothing but fear written all over his face as Jaune pinned him to the wall, hands fisted around his suspenders, lifting him a good couple of inches from the floor.

“ _Jaune,”_ Yang pleaded. “It’s not him. He’s… that’s just… Oscar.”

“How do we even know that?” Jaune said between clenched teeth, staring down the boy in front of him. “He could just be lying! That’s what he does, right?” he shook Oscar a little, knocking him against the wall. “Right?!” He said, louder, on the verge of screaming.

“Jaune.” It was Ren who spoke this time, putting a hand on his leader’s shoulder.

Jaune turned to him, eyes shiny with unshed tears. Ren nodded in Oscar’s direction and Jaune looked over at the boy, small and scared, held up to the wall by his own hands. Jaune’s eyes softened, as if just realizing what he’d done.

He immediately released Oscar from his grasp, taking a half step back and looking down at his hands. He shook his head, sighing as he shrugged off Ren’s hand on his shoulder and started to make his way up the stairs, ignoring the way Oscar flinched as he turned.

“Is… he going to be okay?” Blake asked as a door slammed on the second floor of the house.

“I don’t know!” Nora said, shaking her head and making her way up the stairs as well.

“I think we would benefit from time alone. As a team,” Ren said, just a bit of edge laced into his normally calm voice. With that, he followed his teammates upstairs as well.

There was a beat of silence as the rest of team RWBY – plus Oscar – stood speechless in the living room.

“That… did not go as well as I’d hoped,” Yang said, shaking her head.

“It didn’t go well for us when we found out either,” Blake noted.

Yang flinched, remembering Qrow’s punch and her own anger and frustration getting the best of her. “Good point.”

Ruby sighed, walking over to Oscar and placing a hand on his shoulder. “Are you okay?” she asked.

“I…” Oscar sighed. “I need to be… alone for a while.”

Ruby frowned, but nodded, dropping her hand from his shoulder. “Of course. Just let us know if you need anything.”

With that, Oscar made his exit into one of the rooms on the first floor.

Once she heard the door click shut, Ruby sighed. “It can only get better from here, I suppose.”

Weiss sighed and facepalmed. “ _Why_ would you say that?”

Ruby shrugged. “I’m just trying to be optimistic.”

Weiss huffed as Yang chuckled. “Your optimism is going to give Weiss a heart attack, little sister,” Yang said.

“I’m just saying, we don’t need to test our luck right now,” Weiss said, crossing her arms. “We’ve ran into enough problems. I don’t want another one to sprout up because we let our guard down with optimism.”

Ruby placed a hand on Weiss’s shoulder and shot her a smile she hoped was reassuring. “Don’t worry, Weiss. We won’t let our guard down. I’ll make sure everything is fine.”

Weiss looked up at her teammate with soft eyes, shoulders relaxing a bit. She nodded. “Okay.”

 

After some of the tension cooled off, Ruby suggested everyone take some room to breathe, something Blake was all too willing to take her up on. Saphron and Terra had an amazing garden out back that was strangely reminiscent of the back of her own home – and she’d been waiting for the opportunity to check it out since the second she saw it from their sliding door.

She smiled in wonder as the bright blue butterflies fluttered around her and the melodic song of birds chirped in her ear. The wildlife here was amazing. She’d seen her fair share of butterflies in Menagerie, but nothing with colors quite so vivid. Blake watched with wide eyes as one had the courage to land on her nose. On instinct, her nose twitched, rustling the butterfly from its perch and back into the air. She followed its path as it made its way behind her and she jumped when she saw Yang leaning in the doorway, a small honest smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.

“Sorry,” Yang said, pushing herself off the doorframe, pointing back in the direction of the house, “I’ll let you—”

“No!” Blake said. “I mean, no,” she repeated, toning down her urgency. “You’re more than welcome to join me.”

Yang shrugged, wandering over and leaning against the railing next to Blake. “Cool. Not a big deal or anything, just wanted to check it out, y’know?” Yang smiled, extending out a finger as a blue butterfly came closer, resting on it. “We don’t have things like this in Patch. I mean we have butterflies, obviously, but nothing so…”

Blake nodded, smiling as she watched the butterfly gently flap its wings while perched on Yang’s finger. “I know what you mean. I was just thinking the same.”

Yang smiled down at the butterfly and then looked over to Blake. “That we don’t have things like this in Patch?” Yang said with a smirk. “Never knew you’d been there.” Maybe the words came out bitter. Maybe they didn’t. Either way, Blake chose to take it as humor, which Yang was somewhat thankful for.

Blake rolled her eyes. “I meant about Menagerie.”

Yang hummed, turning her attention back to the butterfly. She looked _so_ beautiful. Blake knew she shouldn’t – there was so much going on and this was definitely a distraction – but she allowed herself to stare for a moment. Her eyes trailed softly over Yang’s form, leaning against the railing of the porch, weight pushed to one foot, jutting her hip out in one direction. Her brilliant golden hair, catching the light of the setting sun just right, her violet eyes softly staring at the little insect on her finger, her lips curved into a small smile. There were very few things in life that had taken Blake’s breath away, but this – Yang – was definitely one of them.

“So… Blake.”

Blake jumped at the sound of her name, snapping out of her daydream. “Um, yeah?” She said, looking at Yang’s face. Her partner hadn’t turned to face her, still staring down at her hand.

“I’ve been thinking,” Yang continued.

“About?” Blake asked, leaning against the railing herself.

Yang’s fingers twitched slightly, but the butterfly stayed put, giving her a place to look still. “Some… stuff.”

Blake suppressed an eyeroll. Yang was stalling. “Stuff like…?”

Yang sighed. “You _know_ what stuff,” she said, finally.

Blake looked down, face heating up. She wasn’t as ready for this talk as she thought. She was also surprised Yang was bringing it up so soon, if she was being honest. “Oh.”

Yang sighed again, eyes not coming off the insect still fluttering its wings on her finger. “I just… I want to make sure we’re on the same page here.”

 _Same page?_ Blake quirked an eyebrow. “Um, of course,” she said, glancing in Yang’s direction. “And that page would be…?”

Yang finally met her eyes, looking a little guarded. It wasn’t a look Blake was used to seeing on her partner’s face. “I’m… not sure?”

“You’re…?” Blake shook her head. How could Yang strike up this conversation with absolutely no direction?

Yang sighed, looking away again. “Look,” she said, evenly, “I was emotional, and it was an impulse, and I shouldn’t have done it. I’m… sorry.”

Blake’s heart sank. That was not at all what she wanted to hear and she instantly regretted every single time that day she wished Yang would just tell her what she was thinking. She would have been better off never knowing, and just hoping that Yang _felt_ something the way she did. She had to feel something. There was no way that couldn’t happen again. It had been too quick. Blake hadn’t been ready. She didn’t get to sink into the way she wanted to. She didn’t get to hold her the way she wanted to. She’d have waited forever if there was a chance of it happening again, but, the way Yang was talking... No, this couldn’t be it. It couldn’t.

Blake shook her head, and reached forward, grabbing Yang’s arm, forcing her to turn and face her, forcing the butterfly to finally fly away. Yang looked down at her, eyes wide and full of wonder, and she thought for a brief moment what her face must look like to warrant that expression, before she pushed forward, cupping Yang’s cheeks between her hands and pressing their lips together.

It started soft, unlike their last kiss. Just a gentle brush of lips on lips, Blake letting Yang know the opportunity was there if she wanted to take it. Her heart hammered in her chest for the brief moment she waited for Yang's reaction, but it came so quickly she hardly had time to worry at all.

Blake couldn’t stop the whimper that escaped her as Yang’s lips locked against her own, her hands digging into her hips. Blake’s slid off of Yang’s face, so she could lock her arms around her neck. She tilted her head, pressing further forward, and felt Yang hum against her lips before she felt a sweep of Yang’s tongue along her bottom lip.

Her knees nearly gave out. How had they ever not done this?

“Yang! Blake!”

The two jumped apart so quickly at Ruby’s voice that neither was sure if the kiss had really just happened, except for the fact they were flushed and breathless and Blake could definitely still taste Yang’s mouth on her lips. They stood there, staring at each other for a moment, before their eyes shot to the house.

No one was in the doorway yet, so Ruby hadn’t seen. Blake let out a sigh of relief as Yang did the same. Less than a second later, Ruby was at the back door, eyebrows knit with worry.

“Ruby?” Yang asked softly, stepping forward and placing a hand on her sister’s shoulder. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

Ruby sighed, shaking her head. “It’s… Oscar.”

Blake stepped forward, crossing her arms over her chest, eyes soft. “What about him?”

Ruby shook her head again, eyes downcast.

Weiss came up behind her, a small frown on her face as she placed a hand on her partner’s shoulder. She looked at her teammates and sighed. “He’s missing.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Please feel free to leave a comment or kudos if you enjoyed! I'm always really open to comments of any kind as long as criticism is constructive. Workshopping is the best way to improve, so really let me know what you think -- or just say hi! :) hearing from readers is always nice!
> 
> You can hit me up on tumblr @empressofedge
> 
> Have a great day/ night and let the bees always buzz!


	4. Admissions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I AM SO SORRY FOR THE DELAY. I got really sick with a virus the week I wanted to get this posted and then life happened. But I'm back on track and hopefully will post just about every week now! Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy.  
> (I think this one is just a little shorter, but better to put out something than nothing at this point!)

Ruby led her team around the snow-dusted streets of Argus; Yang intermittently calling out Oscar’s name, in the hopes he’d pop out from around a corner and they could just go back to the house, and get out of the quickly chilling air.

Yang sighed. “I don’t get it,” she said, shaking her head. “Why would he just run off? I know things have been tense, but…”

“He probably felt cornered,” Blake said softly. Yang eyed her as she continued. “To have that amount of blame put on you… it has to be harrowing.”

“But no one was blaming _him,_ ” Yang said.

Blake shrugged. “Oscar, Ozpin, to him the lines are blurred, and that’s enough to make anyone feel they’re at fault.”

Yang huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. “Great. Another misunderstanding and another missing team member. Just what we needed.”

Blake frowned, ears twitching once as she focused her gaze on the stone sidewalk.

“Guys, come on,” Ruby said, looking back at Yang and Blake. “Whatever the reason Oscar left, all that matters now is that we bring him back safe.”

“And what if he doesn’t want to come back, Ruby?” Yang asked, voice hard. “Are we just supposed to drag him into this again, kicking and screaming?”

Blake raised an eyebrow, looking over at Yang. It wasn’t like her to snap like that, especially when it came to Ruby.

Ruby stopped, turning around to face her sister completely. “He’ll come back, Yang,” she said, though the way her voice wavered didn’t go unnoticed.

“How can you know that?” Yang said, stepping forward. “And even if he _does_ come back, what makes you think he won’t run again the second he sees an opportunity? The stakes are higher than ever, Ruby, and they’re only growing.”

Ruby looked at her sister and shook her head. “So, what, then? We just give up? Leave him here? Yang, that’s not what huntresses do, and I know you know that. He’s part of the team, we can’t just leave him behind.”

“Then maybe he shouldn’t have run off,” Yang said, cold as the night air.

Ruby squinted at her, but before she could speak, Weiss was stepping forward, grabbing Yang by the arm and carting her a few feet away from Ruby and Blake. Once they were out of earshot, and Yang stopped protesting, Weiss released Yang’s arm and glared up at her.

“You _cannot_ be serious right now,” Weiss said, crossing her arms.

“I don’t know what you’re—”

“Stop projecting whatever is going on with Blake on everyone else,” Weiss said. Yang flinched a little. She really wasn’t pulling any punches.

“I’m not—”

“ _Yes,_ you are,” Weiss said, not letting Yang rattle off some lame excuse. “Don’t even pretend like this doesn’t have _everything_ to do with whatever’s going on there. You may be blind to it, but the rest of us aren’t. You only get this upset when it has to do with her.”

Yang scoffed, crossing her arms. “That’s ridicu—”

Weiss rolled her eyes and held up a finger. “The time Blake said she wasn’t going to the dance.”

Yang’s eyes shot to meet Weiss’s, curious. “That’s—how did you even—?”

Another finger. “The time Blake questioned your actions during the tournament.”

“Well… yeah…” Yang said, rubbing the back of her neck. “But that was—”

A third finger. “After the fall of Beacon.”

“That… that wasn’t just about—” Yang flushed slightly.

A fourth. “Our chat in Haven. Or did you completely forget that conversation?”

Yang could feel the tips of her ears burn red as she stared at the ground. Weiss really had a way of making full grown people feel like scolded children.

“Fine. So, I tend to get upset when it comes to Blake, so what?” Yang said, shrugging.

“ _So,”_ Weiss said, crossing her arms again, “just because you’re mad at your partner doesn’t give you the right to be mad at everyone else. You want to be mad at Blake? Fine. But talk to her and deal with it. Stop making other people pay for her mistakes. You said it yourself, Yang; the stakes are only getting higher.” She sighed, placing a hand on Yang’s shoulder, making her meet her eyes. Weiss smiled softly. “So, we can’t afford to fight each other right now, okay?”

Yang deflated, letting out a sigh and looking over at Blake. She caught the way Blake’s ear twitched as Ruby talked to her, a comforting hand on her arm as Blake shook her head. “Y-yeah…” Yang said, quietly.

Weiss raised an eyebrow. “Yang?”

Yang’s attention snapped back to Weiss. “Hm?”

Weiss looked over to where Blake and Ruby were standing before meeting Yang’s eyes again. She shook her head. “Are you ready to go?”

Yang nodded with a sigh. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m good.”

Weiss’s mouth flattened into a straight line as she eyed her teammate. Hand still resting on Yang’s shoulder, Weiss leaned around her to get a clear line of sight to Ruby. “Ruby!”

Ruby’s attention shot from Blake to Weiss, her eyes squinted in question.

“Why don’t we split up for a bit? Cover some more ground. Yang and I can head towards the pier if you two want to take the shopping district?”

There was an unspoken conversation between the two partners, just enough to let Ruby know where Weiss’s head was at, and she nodded. “Sounds like a plan!” Ruby called back, throwing Weiss a thumbs up.

Yang wanted to protest. Despite the uncomfortable tension that sometimes hovered over them, she wasn’t fond of the idea of being too far away from Blake.

Yang’s gaze quickly met Blake’s and she clenched her jaw. Blake actually looked… _hurt._ Her ears downturned and eyes shiny in the worst of ways. I wasn’t fair, Yang didn’t even want to leave with Weiss. Why’d she have to suffer seeing her partner so wounded?

Yang took a step towards Blake and her sister, shaking her head. “No, that’s—”

“Yang, go with Weiss,” Ruby said, waving her sister off. “Blake and I will be fine.”

Yang swallowed, eyes dancing back to Blake’s, desperation seeking relief in the form of her partner’s protest. But it never came. Blake simply stared back for what felt like and eternity before she nodded and looked away.

“Yeah, we’ll be fine. What’s important is that we find Oscar,” Blake said. “And Weiss is right. We’ll be able to cover more ground this way.”

Yang squinted in Blake’s direction, trying to get her to look into her eyes to no avail. Yang let out a bitter huff.

“Fine,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest. “Come on, Weiss. Let’s go.” Yang turned, grabbing Weiss’s upper arm and leading her in the direction of the docks.

 

“Well, that was… tense,” Ruby said with an uneasy chuckle as Weiss and Yang got further from view.

Blake barely registered her words, looking off at Yang’s retreating form and wondering if this trend of watching Yang walk away from her was some kind of punishment bestowed upon her for leaving the first time. Hell, curses were real for Salem, who’s to say this wasn’t hers?

“Blake?”

Her name snapped her out of it, or maybe it was the fact that golden locks finally disappeared around a corner and she could see again. Hear again. Blake looked over at Ruby.

“Yeah?”

“We should probably…” Ruby said, pointing in the other direction.

Blake’s eyes drifted towards where Yang and Weiss went, but she nodded. “Yeah,” she said, turning to Ruby with a small smile. “Yeah, let’s go.”

 

Blake was _unbelievable_.

Yang sighed. Okay, maybe that wasn’t fair. But… she could’ve at least shot Yang some form of acknowledgement when they knew they had to part ways. Whether things were tense between them or not, Blake had to know that the last thing Yang wanted was to be away from her. She _had to_ know.

…Didn’t she?

“Would you _slow down?_ Some of us don’t have legs as long as yours.”

Yang glanced over her shoulder, slowing her pace so Weiss could walk along side her. “Sorry,” Yang mumbled, eyes looking out over the city streets that were wearing thin of people the closer they got to the water. She let out a sigh. “Why are we even going this way? Nobody’s out here.”

“I know,” Weiss said calmly. She sighed, eyes set forward as she spoke. “I thought maybe you could use some time to talk. Away from… prying ears.”

The two teammates neared the end of one of the piers, and Yang shoved her hands into her pockets looking out over the dark water, peaks of waves cast in white by the shattered light of the moon.

“There’s nothing to talk about, Weiss,” Yang said, letting out a breath. “We just need to find Oscar so we can get out of here. This is just wasting –” She started to turn around, intent on going back to their search, when Weiss caught her arm, keeping her in place.

“Would you stop that? That whole ‘there’s nothing to talk about’ thing is getting old real fast,” Weiss said with a shake of her head. “Yang, you’re not okay. You haven’t been okay since Blake came back. And while it’s _fine_ to not be okay, it’s _not fine_ to pretend like you _are.”_

Yang’s mouth set in a hard line. She always knew she wore her heart on her sleeve, and up until now she never really cared about it. But now, with everything going on with Blake, and Weiss staring her down, she started to fear that every feeling she’d ever had was written all over her face in permanent ink. Feelings she had for Blake. Feelings she _has_ for Blake.

Weiss’s grip on her arm relaxed slightly as she looked up at her, worried. “Yang, I’ve told you, I’m here for you. What’s going on?”

“Nothing.” The word sat wrong on her tongue. Her fists clenched.

“Yang…”

“ _Nothing._ ” Please. Please don’t ask again.

“You can tell me. Yang, just –” Weiss said. And third time’s the charm, because Yang seriously couldn’t hold this back anymore if she tried.

“I kissed her.” It came out so fast Yang wasn’t sure if she even said it. She looked to Weiss and the eyebrows that were lost in her hairline were proof enough to confirm she _had._

“You…?”

Everything came spilling out as Weiss processed – or tried to process – the new information. “I kissed her. Gods, I kissed her. The night at the farm. I couldn’t sleep and she came outside and we talked and – gods, Weiss I forgot how much I missed talking to her – and we, we fought and she… she stayed, and she… we hugged and then it was like… like the night just drew her to me… and her lips… and… I… I don’t…” Yang shook her head.

Weiss, to her credit, didn’t freak out. But she also wasn’t actually saying anything.

“Weiss?” Yang offered, looking at her teammate with shiny eyes.

“Sorry,” Weiss said shaking her head. “It’s just… it’s a lot to process.”

Yang nodded and stared down at her boots as she waited patiently for her to continue.

“So then, are you two like…?” Weiss finally asked.

Yang’s cheeks heated. “Um… no. Not… not exactly.”

“So, it was just like… a one-time thing then?” Weiss tried.

Yang sighed, remembering the kiss they shared in the garden. “Not exactly…”

Weiss squinted, looking out over the water. She crossed her arms, then moved her right fingers to rub at her temple. “I’m confused,” she said with a shake of her head.

Yang let out a humorless chuckle. “You and me both…”

The teammates stood there in silence for a moment, lost in thought. Yang was shockingly unembarrassed by the admission that she’d kissed her partner more than once. She’d thought that Weiss or Ruby knowing would be awkward, that it would somehow feel wrong, but it didn’t. She tried not to think of the implications of what that meant.

“So,” Weiss finally said, “if you’re not together, and you’ve done this more than once… is… is it just like a… like a… um…” Weiss flushed the color of Ruby’s hood and Yang held back a chuckle.

“Like a what, Weiss?” Yang teased, crossing her arms.

Weiss set her with a look that could melt ice as she rushed out her sentence, pretending she didn’t get impossible redder as the words left her mouth. “Is it just a physical thing?”

Yang’s teasing smile fell as she considered it. She thought about Blake’s eyes in the moonlight. Thought about how warm she’d been. Thought about the length of her body pressed tight to her own, all lean muscle and soft skin.

She thought about the way her heart raced when Blake promised she was here to stay. About the way Blake chuckled during their meal. About the way she thought she was going to absolutely _die_ when Blake started telling her she did a great job raising Ruby.

Yang shook her head. “No,” she said. “No, it’s not.”

Weiss nodded, looking out over the water. “And… does that go both ways… or…?”

Yang sighed. “I’m… not sure.” It was the truth. She had no idea where Blake stood in relation to the idea of there being a “them.” Sure, Blake initiated the second kiss… but that didn’t mean anything, right? Yang had kissed her out of impulse, maybe Blake just did the same? Or it was something to even the playing field? They never got to actually talk about that one, so it was really up for debate.

Besides, so what if Blake _was_ open to the idea of a relationship? What would that even mean right now? The two could still barely hold a conversation that didn’t end up in bitter words or sudden kisses, what foundation was that for romance?

“Maybe you should… talk to her about it?” Weiss offered. “I know she cares about you, Yang. Whether or not it’s romantic isn’t really my place to say… or assume for that matter.”

“Yeah,” Yang said through a sigh. “I’m just… what if it _is_ one-sided? How am I supposed to move on from that? How are _we_ supposed to move on from that?”

Weiss let out a breath. “You two were always close at Beacon,” she said. “You’ve both been through a lot, and I know you’d be able to work through that as well. But Yang,” she said, putting a hand on her friend’s shoulder, blue eyes locking with lilac. “Don’t reject yourself for her. You’ll never know until you try.”

Yang chuckled. “Yeah… just… is now even the time to be worrying about this kind of stuff? You know, end of the world and all?”

“Yang, now is exactly the time to be worrying about this kind of stuff, if _now_ is the time you’re worrying about it. It’s never going to be a good time to worry about something. So, get it out of the way so we can concentrate on what’s coming.”

Yang stared at Weiss for a moment, mouth hanging slack. “You know,” she finally said, “you have a weird form of wisdom I never would’ve expected.”

Weiss rolled her eyes, withdrawing her hand from Yang’s shoulder and pivoting to make her way back up the pier, snowy ponytail swishing in the air behind her with elegance and grace. “Come on, enough pining, we find Oscar and then you and Blake can work out whatever weird thing it is you two have going on.”

Yang chuckled and jogged to catch up. “Y’know, Weiss, you’re really not so bad.”

Yang only laughed harder with Weiss’s over-the-top declaration of “Of course, I’m not!”

 

“Hello, sir. We’re looking for our friend, he’s fourteen, about this tall, dark hair, green eyes?”

Blake sighed as Ruby rattled off Oscar’s description to another vendor lining the marketplace. They were nearing a little over an hour on their search and they hadn’t had any luck finding the boy. Though even if a vendor had seen Oscar, it wouldn’t be farfetched to assume they simply forgot. The market was _packed_. It honestly reminded Blake of the marketplace in Menagerie. Stuffed with people shuffling against each other and mumbling half-assed apologies.

She scoffed at the thought. To think an Atlas controlled territory would ever have anything resembling her home was a strange thought, one she’d already had twice now nonetheless. It was too bad they didn’t see the similarities for themselves, but the idea of any Atlesian ever setting foot in Menagerie was inconceivable at best. And the beginning of a war at worst.

Blake’s eyes scanned the crowd for any sign of Oscar, her ears twitching this way and that with all the noises. One noise in particular made her flinch.

“Animals, can’t believe they let them into the city.”

It wasn’t new to her, and she was surprised by how little attention she’d actually attracted so far, but it still hurt to hear. With a roll of her eyes and a shake of her head, she scanned over the marketplace again until Ruby came up beside her.

Blake raised an eyebrow. “No luck?”

Ruby shook her head. “No, he hadn’t seen him either.”

The two started walking through the crowd shoulder to shoulder, so as to not lose each other as well.

“Ugh, this is all my fault,” Ruby said after a moment. “I never should’ve let him be alone when he was so upset! I should’ve checked on him or something. Now, if anything happened to him –”

“Whoa, hey,” Blake said, putting a hand on Ruby’s shoulder. “You can’t blame yourself for Oscar leaving. No one can. It’s no one’s fault.”

“I’m the _leader_ , Blake. I’m the one that’s supposed to keep everyone together, and if I can’t even do that…”

“Who said you can’t?” Blake said, looking down at Ruby. Someone bumped into them as they came to a standstill.

“What? Can’t even walk on two legs there, beast?” The stranger mumbled.

Blake ignored him and guided Ruby – who had been ready with a retort to the rude stranger – to a more secluded area with a bench they both took a seat on.

“How can you just walk away from that?” Ruby asked. “That guy was – ”

“That guy is not what I’m concerning myself with right now,” Blake said calmly. “I have bigger things on my mind, and so do you. But… yours are what we’re talking about right now.”

Ruby squinted at Blake. “Blake… I really don’t need –”

“ _Yes_ , you do,” Blake said. “If you think that Oscar leaving is _your fault_. If you think him leaving is reflecting poorly on you as a leader? Then yes, you do need to talk about it.”

Ruby was quiet for a moment, jaw set in defiance. It was moments like this that Blake realized that Ruby really was two years younger… or just related to Yang.

Ruby sighed. “Look, Blake, I get that you’re trying to help, but I’m fine. I’m just… it _is_ my fault. Keeping the team together is my job and I haven’t really ever been… good at that.”

Blake’s ears twitched down, Ruby didn’t need to clarify for her to gather what she meant by that. “It… what happened, back then… that… that wasn’t on you, you know that, right?”

“I should have _been there,_ ” Ruby said, voice cracking ever so slightly. “When everything… maybe I couldn’t have helped Weiss, maybe she still would’ve been dragged home, but…”

Blake felt her heart clench. She knew she hurt a lot of people when she ran, but she’d never even suspected that Ruby would’ve blamed herself. Why would she? It was Blake’s decision to leave, Ruby never had a say in it.

“Hey,” Blake said, placing a hand on Ruby’s shoulder and squeezing lightly. Silver eyes met gold and Blake frowned. “You do not control the actions of others. You don’t get to blame yourself for their mistakes.” Blake cracked a small smile. “Besides, what would you have done? Woken yourself up in some sort of miracle fashion? Kidnap me? Take me to your house? Lock me in a room? Seems like a flawed plan.”

Ruby chuckled, despite herself.

“Look,” Blake continued, “these things have a way of working themselves out, right?” She gestured to herself for emphasis. “I’m willing to bet the same will happen with Oscar. He’s feeling… a lot of guilt right now. And though it may not seem warranted, it doesn’t need to be for it to feel real to him.”

Ruby looked at her teammate. “Speaking from experience, then?”

Blake gave her a sad smile in return. “I suppose. Though I think my experience is… a little different.”

“Different how?” Ruby asked, quickly tacking on, “Besides the whole ‘not having Ozpin using you as a puppet’ thing…”

“Um…” Blake paused. What was a good way around this? She couldn’t just… tell Ruby that she left to protect Yang… that would be suspicious. And that would warrant more questions. And _that_ could lead to some very specific admissions she wouldn’t quite like to share with Yang’s little sister at the moment. “I… there’s certain aspects of my past that put people I care about in danger when they’re around me… Yang just happened to get the worst of it. I thought… maybe if I wasn’t there… he’d leave her alone. He’d leave you all alone. And it _worked_. But…”

“But not forever?” Ruby offered.

Blake nodded. “I mean, yes. But also…” she sighed, “I didn’t come to Haven expecting to find you all there. I was just trying to stop Adam’s attack. Trying to reclaim the White Fang. Trying to save innocent lives, because what happened at Beacon… it shouldn’t have to happen anywhere else.” Blake took a deep breath. “But then… I walked into that room and…” _Yang?_ Blake couldn’t help but remember. She wondered if Ruby remembered. Wondered if she’d put together the significance. “Well, I couldn’t leave. Not again,” she said after a long pause. “But Ruby, I had to come to that conclusion _myself_. And, maybe, so does Oscar,” Blake said. “People needing to figure things out for themselves? That doesn’t define your leadership. Opening your arms up the instant they figure it out? _That_ defines your leadership.”

Ruby smiled, small and sad, but there. “You know, Blake,” she said, leaning in and crushing the Faunus into a hug. “You may not talk a lot, but when you do, you sure know what to say.”

Blake chuckled, wrapping her arms around the smaller girl. “Only sometimes, Ruby.” _Trust me. Only sometimes._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can Y'all believe the bees are freaking canon by the way? Like damn. I don't even NEED to write this fic anymore, but I will. Please leave comments, kudos, subscribe, bookmark, whatever tickles your fancy! Obviously I'm open to criticism as well. I found the Blake/ Ruby scene very challenging since they don't have a lot of air time together so let me know what you think. Have a great day/ night and thank you as always for reading!
> 
> Please hit me up on tumblr! I'm looking for bee friends! @empressofedge (you can also yell at me to write here, so do that. keep me on track!)
> 
> Ps I love writing Weiss and Yang scenes. They’re so much fun. Wing woman Weiss ftw.


	5. Confessions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm actually really happy with this one. Hope you guys enjoy it too! (I literally had to stop to text my friend because wtf, I did not sign up to cry over my own fic... lol)

“Ruby’s gonna be _pissed._ ”

“Can’t say I blame her.”

Yang and Weiss got back to the house first, after sending a message off to Blake and Ruby to meet back there and regroup. It was getting late and neither pair had any luck finding Oscar, nor had the remaining members of team JNPR. The best they could do now was hope he came back during the night, or start fresh in the morning with daylight on their side.

But first, they’d have to deal with the current roadblock on the stairs: Qrow. Passed out and sprawled along the steps, whiskey on his breath.

Yang sighed, closing her eyes and rubbing two fingers against her temple. “We should probably get him up.”

Weiss nodded, stepping forward and tapping him on one shoulder as Yang shook the other.

“Uncle Qrow, wake up,” Yang said, somewhat impatient. He barely stirred, muttering something under his breath and shifting only slightly. “Come on,” Yang said, shaking him harder. He moved enough to swat her hand away and curl up more on his side. Yang sighed, taking a step back. “ _Great._ ”

Weiss frowned, putting a hand on her teammate’s shoulder and looking down at the man on the stairs. “Once Blake and Ruby get back, they can help us get him inside,” Weiss said quietly.

Yang groaned. “Ruby shouldn’t have to deal with this,” she said, eyes squeezing shut and fists clenching at her sides.

Weiss squeezed Yang’s shoulder with a sigh. “I know.”

The sound of footsteps approaching caught both their attentions and Yang and Weiss turned their heads to see Blake and Ruby rounding the corner. They came to a stop and Ruby’s eyes fell to the stairs and their uncle instantly, while Blake’s gaze bounced from Yang to Weiss to Weiss’s hand resting on her shoulder and then finally to the steps, a frown resting on her lips.

Ruby simply sighed, straightening her spine and squaring her shoulders. “Come on,” she said, determined. “Let’s just get him inside.”

Yang nodded, stepping forward and hooking her hands under one of his arms while Ruby did the same to the other, and Weiss rushed up the stairs to open the door for them. They stumbled slowly up the stairs, their uncle weighing more than either of them expected, given his lanky physique, as Blake stood behind, offering some support to his back incase the momentum shifted backwards. As they crossed the threshold into the Cotta-Arc household the five were hit with the overwhelming smell of a homecooked meal, their stomachs automatically clenching in anticipation.

Confused, the group shared some glances before popping their heads in the doorway of the kitchen only to see Oscar peeking into the oven, apron tied around his waist and fancy new clothes replacing his old farmhand rags.

Relief and shock hit them so hard Yang and Ruby couldn’t be blamed for Qrow suddenly dropping face first to the floor.

“Shit!” Yang said, hands hovering in the air where her uncle should be. He let out a groan, but otherwise seemed fine.

“Oh! You’re back!” Oscar chimed, jumping slightly from the commotion and taking the oven mitts off his hands. “I was just… making some dinner. Figured you guys could use a nice meal after spending all that time out in the city… doing… whatever it was you were doing.”

Weiss was the one to step forward and speak up as everyone else stood shell-shocked. “We were _looking_ for _you._ ”

Oscar quirked an eyebrow, scratching the back of his head. “Looking for me? But…” Oscar shook his head. “Why?”

“Um, because you were _missing?_ ” Yang said, bending over and helping Ruby pull Qrow into a sitting position.

“Oh,” Oscar said, fiddling with the string on his apron. “I just… went out to get some new clothes. Figured if I was going to be sticking around… might as well have some clothes that’ll hold up better in the cold,” he finished with an awkward half-guilty shrug.

“Well _maybe_ you should tell someone next time!” Weiss said. “Do you even know how worried we were?”

“Oh, I’m… I’m sorry I just. I mean there wasn’t really anyone to tell. I couldn’t find you and Ruby. Blake and Yang seemed…” he met Yang’s eyes, then Blake’s, both of them looking at him curiously, “distracted,” he decided on, gaze dropping to the floor for a moment before coming up to meet Weiss’s again. “Jaune and his team really didn’t feel like an option. And then that really just left…” He trailed off, looking down at Qrow on the floor holding his head in his hands. Oscar sighed. “I mean, even if I had told him, I doubt he would’ve remembered.”

Weiss sighed, facepalming. “We _really_ need to get you a scroll.”

Ruby chuckled, walking forward and putting a hand on Oscar’s shoulder, a small smile on her face. “I think what Weiss is _trying_ to say is, we’re glad you’re safe.”

Blake leaned against the doorway to the kitchen, arms crossed and face flushed, as Ruby and Weiss started discussing who they should call first about Oscar. What had he meant by distracted? He couldn’t have seen them kiss since Ruby was the one to break them apart, but it could’ve been anything leading up to that. What had they said? Was it anything that could’ve given them away? Blake’s face scrunched up. Given _what_ away? There was nothing to really give away, was there? Certainly not a “them” to give away, at least.

“Hey.” Yang’s voice pulled her out of her spiral, and she looked down at her. “Could you give me a hand? I want to get him on the couch.” Yang said, already tossing one of Qrow’s arms around her shoulders.

“Of course,” Blake said, immediately crouching down and doing the same on his other side. He was a little more conscious for the moment, probably thanks to taking a hardwood floor to the face, but it was still a challenge to help the stumbling man onto the couch, and he toppled over onto his side the moment he hit the cushions.

Yang sighed as Qrow mumbled incoherently. “Thanks,” Yang mumbled to Blake. “I’m sorry to drag you into… this,” Yang continued, gesturing to her uncle, who was beginning to doze off.

Blake looked at her. She was frowning, arms hanging limp at her sides, and eyes tired. Blake’s ears drooped, sad to see her partner struggling. She only thought for a moment before reaching out and lacing the fingers of her right hand through Yang’s left. Regardless of what they were or weren’t, this was about support, reminiscent of the time in the barn. Blake hoped silently this time would go better.

She was a little surprised when Yang didn’t tense, didn’t jump, didn’t look at her; but rather curled her fingers around her own, still staring down at her uncle. Blake squeezed her fingers gently and felt Yang do the same.

Maybe this was all she needed. Maybe Blake didn’t need to say anything at all. Maybe her just being here was enough. The thought made her heart race.

“I’m sorry,” Yang finally said, quiet and soft.

Of all the things that could’ve been said in the moment, that wasn’t what Blake was expecting. “What?” she asked, looking at Yang, trying to get her to look her in the eye. “Why?”

Yang’s gaze stayed fixed in front of her, but it was clear she wasn’t looking at her uncle, she just wasn’t looking at Blake. “The way I acted before. About Oscar. I know it was pretty obvious where my head was at and I’m just…” she sighed, shaking her head before looking up at Blake. “It wasn’t fair to you,” she said, squeezing Blake’s hand a little tighter, “and I’m sorry.”

Blake’s breath caught with how open and honest Yang’s eyes were. They were standing close enough that Blake’s eyes had to flicker between both of Yang’s to fully take in her expression and she could feel her palm get instantly sweaty against her partner’s. _Great._ If Yang noticed, she didn’t say anything, didn’t make a move to pull away. Just stood there, vulnerable, walls she’d been holding up crashing down around them.

 _I should say something._ Blake thought. _She’s waiting for me to say something._

“I…” Blake started, shaking her head. “You don’t need to apologize. I – I hurt you so much, Yang and…” She said, looking down and away, ears drooping. “It… I deserved it. I –”

“Whoa. _No,_ ” Yang said, tugging Blake’s hand and getting her to look back up. Yang’s eyes were still wide, but this time with shock, concern. “Blake, I don’t care _what_ you did. You don’t deserve the way I was acting. No one _deserves_ to be… treated like that. I was wrong, and I shouldn’t have said it. It was…” Yang swallowed thickly, but didn’t break her eye contact. “It…” she sighed, glancing around the room, looking down at her uncle, seeing her sister, Oscar, and Weiss standing out in the kitchen. This wasn’t the place for this conversation.

“Come with me for a second.” With a tug on Blake’s hand, she started dragging her back towards the spare rooms, slipping into the first one, flicking on the light and closing the door gently behind them. Their hands were still linked together, and Yang couldn’t help but notice how right it felt. She wanted to be able to do this forever. But there were more pressing issues.

Yang led Blake over to the bed, sitting down and pulling gently on Blake’s hand until she settled in next to her. She took a deep breath, her thumb tracing patterns over Blake’s hand nervously, but the Faunus didn’t seem to mind. “Blake,” she started, shaking her head. “I’m really sorry for how I was acting,” she repeated. “And you _don’t_ deserve that.” She looked up at Blake, eyes pleading with her to see the truth behind her words. “Gods, you have to know you _never_ deserve to be treated like that.” Yang shook her head again, looking away. “I know I didn’t exactly direct it at you, but… it was… I know it was… I mean…” Yang sighed, frustrated.

Blake stayed quiet, watching Yang as she tried to sort out the words in her head. Tried to get it all right. Make it make sense. She wasn’t quite sure where Yang was trying to go with all of this, but it felt like a breaking point, like a crossroads, like the end goal would change their lives forever. It was heavy, the air thick, and the hand in her own traced patterns that were real and unpredictable.

“I… I know I… even if I didn’t know it at the time… I’m sure I said it to… to _hurt_ you.” Yang choked on the words. They tasted bitter. They felt _wrong._ Unhealthy. Undeserving. “And I’m… I’m _so sorry._ Because, Blake… the _last thing_ I ever want to do is hurt you.” Her voice cracked, this wasn’t supposed to be how it all happened. There wasn’t supposed to be broken voices, shattered hearts, lost hope. She was supposed to be pleading her case. Making Blake see they could be together. Be something great. Help each other. Be better. But… how could she? She’d lashed out, unthinking and subconscious, sure, but that didn’t make it better, didn’t make it any less real. Passive aggressive or not her words were targeted to hurt. And Blake had had enough pain in her life, she didn’t need Yang adding to it.

The truth struck Yang, sudden and overwhelming, and before she knew it tears were in her eyes, rolling down her cheeks, blurring Blake from view.

She couldn’t have her. She could _never_ have her. It would be wrong, and painful, and simply undeserved.

“ _Blake_ ,” she choked on her name, shaking her head. “I’m just… I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m _so sorry._ ”

Blake shook her head, baffled by the girl breaking down in front of her. Looking like her world just ended. “Yang…”

Her name on Blake’s lips only made Yang crumble more, and she felt Blake’s fingers slip out of her own before her arms folded around her, fingers twining into golden locks, and dull fingernails scratching soothingly at the base of her skull.

“Shhhh,” Blake whispered into her ear. “It’s okay. It’s okay. Gods, Yang, you have nothing to apologize for.” She whispered the last part more to herself, but was sure Yang had heard it too.

Whether or not Yang felt worthy to hold Blake in her arms, she did it anyway. Looping her arms around her waist and locking onto her. Face buried against the pale skin of her neck, strands of black hair sticking to her tear-stained cheeks as sob after sob wracked her body.

Neither was sure how long they sat there, Yang dropping tears onto Blake’s skin, but eventually Yang calmed down to hiccups and sniffles, and her arms relaxed their grip on Blake’s waist, muscles weary from exertion. Blake rested a hand on her shoulder, gently leaning Yang back so she could look her in the eye.

Or _try_ to.

Yang’s right hand fell to Blake’s thigh and her left to the bed, keeping her upright, as she tilted her chin down, eyes trained on the comforter, embarrassed.

Blake sighed, bringing a hand up to cradle Yang’s jaw, tilt her head up, make her meet her gaze. Her eyes were puffy, bloodshot and dark. Cheeks red and wet, and some of Blake’s hair made the journey back with Yang’s face. Blake chuckled lightly, sweeping her hand over Yang’s cheeks, breaking the connection of dark hair to damp skin.

Yang groaned and sniffled. “Sorry,” she said, voice hoarse.

“Shh Shh Shh,” Blake soothed, thumbs wiping over tear tracks. She shook her head. “Enough of that.” Her right hand continued to cradle Yang’s face while her left dropped to cover Yang’s hand on her lap, fingers curling around metal and squeezing gently. “Enough of that,” she repeated, forcing Yang to lock eyes with her.

Yang’s hand on her lap squeezed slightly in acknowledgement, her voice not yet ready to speak without breaking.

Blake let out a slow, steady breath, shaking her head. “I don’t know what all of this is about,” she admitted, frown tugging at the corner of her mouth. “But, Yang, you don’t need to apologize for something like this. We… we’ve gone through a lot. I’ve probably hurt you more than I’ll ever know, and it… it kills me.” Blake looked away for a moment, ears twitching down briefly before righting themselves. “You have every right to be upset,” she said, meeting Yang’s eyes again. “We can’t always control how we feel, Yang. It’s part of being alive. Of being human. Of being Faunus.” Blake swallowed. “Yes, it hurt when you said those things. Yes, I knew where it was coming from. Yes, I knew it was probably said with intent, willingly or not. And _yes_ , it was mean. And _yes,_ you probably shouldn’t have said it.”

Yang’s eyes glazed with tears again and Blake quickly continued.

“But you know what? It’s okay. I know. I _know_ you didn’t want to hurt me. Not really. Yang, I’m not blind. And… and you…” Blake sighed. “I have _a lot_ of experience with people treating me like shit. People I cared about,” she said, her grip tightened around Yang’s hand. “I’ve said it before, Yang – and although so much has changed – although _you’ve_ changed. You’re still not him.” Blake scoffed, rolling her eyes and brushing Yang’s bangs out of her eyes. “Gods, you could _never_ be him. Your heart,” she said, trailing her hand lightly down Yang’s jaw, her neck, to place it over her chest, “it’s far too big. Too full…” she didn’t finish the thought, too afraid of the implication, but she let it hang there. Let Yang soak it in, stare at her with wide eyes.

Blake shook her head, there was still more to say. She had to.

“And then there’s _me._ Yang, I should never have left. I shouldn’t have run away and left you to pick up the pieces on your own. I shouldn’t have hurt you, when all you wanted to do was… was protect me.”

Pieces clicked into place in Yang’s mind, part of the puzzle unlocking, earlier confusion and anger melting away. “Blake…”

“No,” Blake said, voice surprisingly strong. “No, I… I need to. Need to say this.” She took a deep breath, looking Yang in the eyes. Soft lilac gazing into gold. “ _I’m_ sorry,” Blake started. “I am. I know I said before that… that I had to go, had to leave… but you were right, I didn’t. I could’ve stayed. And Yang, I should have. So, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry I hurt you.”

Yang just stared at her, expression entirely unreadable and Blake felt her cheeks heat. She didn’t have anything else to say, and the silence charged the air between them in a way she couldn’t quite put her finger on. It made her uneasy, uncomfortable, left feeling exposed and vulnerable.

“Y-Yang?” she probed, hoping it would break the tension. It did. But not in the way she expected.

Yang’s left hand came up off the bed, nimble fingers twirling a lock of Blake’s hair before tucking it behind her human ear. “Can I confess something?” Yang asked, eyes trained on her hand, still toying with Blake’s hair.

Blake nodded. What else could she do? The question felt more like a formality, rhetorical, the answer coming no matter what she said or did. The words to be spoken, inevitable.

Yang let out a breath, long and slow and steady. “I… I talked to Weiss today.”

Blake’s memory flashed to the hand on Yang’s arm, their closeness, solidarity. Her chest flared with emotion that was unexpected and unwelcome. She felt her nostrils flare, body go tense. “O-oh?” she said, trying to come off natural, she wasn’t sure if she was effective. “What about?”

Yang flushed a pretty shade of pink, still distracting herself with Blake’s hair. “About you.”

_Me?_

Yang laughed lightly and Blake realized she must’ve said that out loud. “Is that so unbelievable?” she said, finally meeting her eyes.

“No, no! I just…” Blake said, chuckling, “I guess it’s just… not what I expected.”

Yang’s expression softened, giving Blake a break. “Well, I did,” she said. “I talked about you. About…” Yang’s eyes darted down to their hands on Blake’s lap and she swallowed. Blake felt Yang’s heartbeat against her palm start to race, the hand that had finally come to rest against her jaw and neck go clammy. “Us.” Yang finally finished, eyes still downcast.

Blake’s pulse fluttered. She was sure Yang could feel it, same as she could feel her heart about to beat out of her chest. ‘Us’ sounded way nicer than Blake could have ever imagined. Oh, wait, Yang was still talking.

“Or well… you know… the… I mean… our relationship.” Blake’s ears shot straight up. “ _Wait no,”_ Yang continued. “That’s not, I mean that’s not what I – Um, not that that’s not… I’m not saying that I don’t want – but, like, only if… _Wow,_ I’m bad at this.”

Blake chuckled, low and sweet. “Yes. Yes, you are,” she said, looking up into Yang’s eyes.

Yang huffed, rolling her eyes, shoulders relaxing slightly. “Damn, thanks, Belladonna.”

“ _But_ ,” Blake said, trying to contain the stretch of her smile. “I think it’s cute.” She blushed as the words came out and Yang’s face broke into a sheepish smile. It felt honest and real. More than anything she’s ever felt in her life. Blake cleared her throat, gesturing to Yang with her right hand before lowering it to take Yang’s hand in both of hers. “Go on, keep trying.”

Yang stared. She stared and stared and stared and Blake felt like she was drowning. Falling. Maybe she was. Maybe she had.

Finally, Yang relented with a sigh. “I told her about the night at the farm,” she said, softly. “I told her how it all just… happened. How everything just spiraled as if it was meant to come down to that moment. And… she asked me things,” Yang said, toying with Blake’s hands, she couldn’t feel them as well with her prosthetic, but it was enough of a distraction. “She asked me if it was a one-time thing.” Yang chuckled, looking up at Blake from behind long lashes and raising her eyebrows. “She asked me if it was just _physical_. You should’ve seen her face,” Yang said, laughing harder. Blake smirked, but it never quite made it to a smile.

“What… what did you tell her?” Blake asked. She looked so small. Sometimes Yang forgot with the way Blake carried herself, with the way she fought, with how dark her past was, that she was also very _real_ , and had fears, insecurities. Could be scared and fragile. But she was getting better at showing those parts of herself. The word _brave_ floated around Yang’s mind.

“I told her the truth,” Yang said, honestly, smirking when Blake hit her with a trademark glare. Yang brushed Blake’s bangs out of her eyes. She smiled softly, fingertips tracing delicately along Blake’s jaw. “Come on, Blake. You have to know the answer to that,” she whispered.  

Blake’s eyes fluttered shut. Frown settling on her lips. “But I _don’t,_ ” she breathed. “I really don’t,” she said, shaking her head.

Yang could’ve settled it all with action. It was her go-to, after all. Actions spoke louder, but with them, that always seemed to fail. Always seemed to leave questions burning and unanswered.

“Hey,” Yang said, giving Blake’s hand a light squeeze. Blake’s eyes stayed shut, as if opening them would be too much, would reveal too much. “Blake, please. Look at me.”

And she did. And Yang was right. It gave _everything_ away. Blake’s eyes shined with such emotion it spilled over, lighting sparks in Yang’s heart she never knew existed.

Yang’s gaze softened impossibly and she pulled her hand out of Blake’s so she could cup both of her cheeks between her hands. Blake’s left hand trailed after, cradling Yang’s right hand to her face.

“Blake,” Yang breathed, leaning forward and pressing their foreheads together. “How could you think I’d ever want less than all of you?”

It was too much. Blake felt the dam burst and she couldn’t stop the tears from spilling over. All the time she spent away. Months of thinking about what could’ve been. Months of trying to forget how much she’d hurt the woman she loved. Months thinking she’d never see her again, never hold her again, never get the chance to tell her how she felt, to kiss her, make love to her.

And now Yang was there, telling her it was all possible, holding her close and wiping tears off her cheeks as Blake sobbed.

“Shhh,” Yang said, eyes closing as she continued to wick away Blake’s tears. Blake only cried harder so she pulled her arms back, wrapped them around Blake as best she could and pulled them both back onto the mattress so they could lie face-to-face.

Blake was quick to return the embrace, tangling her legs with Yang’s and burying her face into her chest. Yang trailed her hand gently up and down Blake’s spine until her crying weakened to sniffles.

Yang chuckled and Blake felt it everywhere, ear involuntarily twitching against Yang’s neck which made her shudder. They both pretended it didn’t happen.

“Look at us,” Yang said, combing her fingers through Blake’s hair. Blake sighed and sniffled, pushing closer to Yang’s chest, the rumble of her voice soothing. “Can’t go more than ten minutes without sobbing in each other’s arms, huh?” Yang teased.

Blake chuckled weakly before groaning. “Please. I do not want to be one of _those_ couples,” she mumbled into Yang’s chest.

Yang’s hand stilled and Blake thought she may have assumed too much for a moment, but then she felt a smile press to the top of her head, leaving a kiss there before mumbling. “Trust me, babe. We’re _so_ going to be one of those couples.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Awwwwww they're together-together! Oof, that yangst. Wild ride on this one, but I hope it was worth it. 
> 
> PLEASE let me know what you think! I love to hear comments both good and constructive (or if you just wanna say hi!) Also, kudos are always highly appreciated. A bookmark... subscription... whatever way you like to show you like something it's appreciated :)
> 
> Please also hit me up on Tumblr @empressofedge my ask box is always open, and I'm always looking for more bee fans to freak out with!
> 
> Have a great day/ night everyone! :)


	6. New

They didn’t tell anyone. Not because they wanted to hide it, but because it just didn’t seem like something everyone needed to know _right now_. There was a bigger game, and everyone had other things on their mind. An extra couple in the mix would just be useless information that everyone would awkwardly stumble over with silly smiles and congratulations and maybe a ‘ _finally_ ’ from one white-haired ex-heiress. So, yeah, it just didn’t seem like they _needed_ to tell anyone.

And maybe they kind of liked the privacy of secrecy.

Maybe Blake liked running her finger discreetly along Yang’s arm when they brushed by each other in the kitchen. Maybe Yang liked the look in Blake’s hooded eyes when she glanced at her over her shoulder. Maybe they liked the way their knees knocked together under the dinner table, blushes tinting their cheeks as they enjoyed Oscar’s casserole. Maybe they liked that all of this was just for them, at least for the night.

“So, what’s your next step?” Saphron asked, making faces as she tried to get Adrian to eat his food.

“That eager to get your baby brother out of your house, Saph?” Jaune said, leaning forward onto the table and batting his eyelashes.

“Of course not,” Saphron said at the exact same moment her wife smirked and muttered, “Yes.”

Saphron shot Terra a look while the other woman chuckled, taking a bite of her meal.

“I just figured that, now that everyone’s together, you’d want to start thinking of a way to get into Atlas,” Saphron continued.

Ruby was the first to speak up, hastily swallowing her food. “Yeah. We figured we’d start at the military base in the morning. Hitch a ride up from there.”

Jaune and the rest of his team shared a couple of uneasy glances which everyone picked up on.

“What?” Yang asked, fork halfway to her mouth. “What’re the looks for?”

Jaune scratched the back of his head. “Um… yeah… about that…”

“So, we might have already tried that,” Nora chimed in.

“And?” Blake prompted, ears twitching restlessly.

Nora looked at Jaune and Ren, a frown settling on her lips.

Yang huffed. “Can we stop with the cryptic looks and just _explain_ what’s going on, please?”

Jaune sighed. “The border’s closed. No one is getting in or out of Atlas.”

Silence settled over the table, tense and awkward.

“Okay,” Ruby said, putting her fork down and resting her arms on the table. “But that’s probably just for unknowns, right? I mean, we know the General. That… has to count for something.”

“I’m not so sure,” Ren said, shaking his head. “The woman in charge seemed… strict on her ‘no one passes through’ policy.”

“So, what? That’s it then? We travelled all this way just to get stopped at the gates of Argus’s military base?” Yang said, anger growing with every word.

Blake frowned, covering Yang’s right hand with her left under the table. “Hey, we won’t know that until we try,” she said, giving Yang’s hand a squeeze. “I mean… even if knowing Ironwood doesn’t help, we _do_ have the missing heiress of the Schnee Dust Company.”

Weiss sighed. “How many times do I have to say: Ex-heiress?”

Blake shot her an apologetic smile.

“She’s right though, Weiss,” Ruby said. “I promise, we won’t leave your side, but I think it’s something we need to try and exploit.”

Weiss sighed again. “You’re right. I _know_ you’re right, it’s just that…”

Ruby put a hand on her partner’s shoulder. “We’ll be there the whole time. I promise,” Ruby said, a small honest smile gracing her lips.

Weiss smiled back, tense but sure, as she gave one firm nod. “Then let’s do this.”

 

 

It goes without saying it was easier said than done. Caroline Cordovin stood barely an inch taller than Maria, but had enough personality and ego to fill an Ursa.

But, Ruby, ever the optimist, couldn’t give up yet. “But—”

“Absolutely _not,_ ” Cordovin declared, back straight, hands clasped behind her. “What do you… _children…_ not understand about _closed?_ And if you ever think _she_ is getting through these gates, you have another thing coming,” she added, glaring pointedly at Maria, who simply gave the impression she rolled her eyes.

“Come off it, Cordo. It was _one_ flight,” Maria said. She clicked her tongue, shaking her head.  “I swear, you’d think after all these years you would’ve finally gotten that stick out your a—”

“Ah!” Ruby cut in, ungracefully. “Ah, I… but… we have Weiss Schnee with us!” Ruby said, wrapping an arm around Weiss’s shoulders. “We’re just trying to get her home safe.”

Weiss had to fight off a frown, it wouldn’t be all that convincing if she looked miserable about returning. Instead she plastered on the fake smile she was all too familiar with and looked down at the officer.

Cordovin took a moment to size her up. Though it was less than a second, Weiss swore it lasted an eternity before the woman spoke, her face and voice softening. “Of course, if the heiress has come to her senses and wishes to return home, we would be more than happy to escort her – and _only_ her. We cannot be responsible for her friends of… questionable character,” Cordovin said, glancing up at Blake’s ears with distaste.

Blake’s heart stopped. She was used to the passing blows, the snide remarks of nobodies and strangers, mumbled under hushed breaths where no one but her was meant to feel the shame. But this was different. It was a person with power, authority. One people were meant to look up to, one that was meant to lead by example, and she just…

Blake’s ears folded down, her right hand automatically coming across her body to grip at her left arm, encompassing herself in a half-hug as she tried to take up less space.

“ _Excuse me?”_

_“What’s **that** supposed to mean?”_

The sentences ran on top of each other from Yang and Weiss respectively and Blake felt her heart start beating again, albeit barely.

“It means we’re done here,” Cordo declared before pivoting back onto the base and slamming the gates shut behind her.

Blake was somewhat aware of a conversation happening between Weiss and Ruby, and Maria muttering “she-devil” under her breath, but her gaze was transfixed on the ground in front of her, still shaken from the blatant racism that had occurred right in front of all her friends. It was embarrassing that it shook her like this. She should’ve known better. She should’ve—

“Hey, baby, you okay?” Yang’s voice was soft, like the gesture of her hand on Blake’s shoulder, and Blake wanted nothing more than to turn around and curl into her arms. “Blake?”

It was a snap decision to act on her thoughts, she’d always pushed the things she wanted aside, but this new thing she had with Yang… it was worth it. Blake spun around, slinging her arms over Yang’s shoulders and burying her face in blonde hair. She felt sturdy arms circle around her waist and thumbs rub tight, comforting, circles into her lower back.

“Maria was right, that lady is a she-devil,” Yang mumbled against Blake’s temple.

Despite herself, Blake chuckled. She pulled back a little to look up at Yang with soft eyes. Her lips twitched into a smile.

“Also,” Yang whispered, grin wide as she kept her hands firmly planted on Blake’s hips, “she’s _insane_. Because you are beautiful and caring and she has _no idea_ who she’s talking about. Atlas would be so lucky as to have someone like you.”

Blake’s ears twitched at the flattery. It was taking some getting used to. Yang had always been one to be a little bit of a flirt, but now it _meant_ something.

Blake cocked her head to the side and smiled.

Maybe it always meant something.

“If you don’t stop flirting, Yang Xiao Long, I’m not responsible for my actions,” Blake said under her breath.

Yang smirked. “That ready to throw subtlety out, huh?”

Blake’s gaze dropped to Yang’s lips for a moment. She raised her eyebrows, and gave a half-shrug. “Kinda.”

“It’d probably piss off the old lady…” Yang said, drawing Blake just a little closer.

Blake chuckled, sliding her hands to rest on Yang’s shoulders. “Bonus.”

Yang laughed, and Blake’s smile stretched wider.

“Stop that,” Blake said.

“Stop what?”

“All of it,” Blake said, shaking her head. “If you keep laughing and smiling like that… I’m actually going to kiss you.”

Yang’s thumbs rubbed circles into Blake’s hipbones and her gaze shifted down as her cheeks turned pink. “I mean… would it be so bad?”

Blake felt her face flush. “I… um…” She _wanted to_. That was the problem. She wanted everyone to know. She wanted everyone to look at them and see how much they meant to each other. But it was complicated. They still hadn’t kissed since they had gotten together and Blake felt like now wasn’t the right time. That kiss should be for them, not for everyone else. “I just…” she said, fiddling with the fabric of Yang’s jacket.

Yang stood patiently, waiting for Blake to gather her thoughts.

Blake’s voice dropped to a whisper when she spoke again. “I kind of want the next one to be… y’know… for… us.” It sounded stupidly romantic, but it was the only way she could think of to say it. Hell, maybe it _was_ stupidly romantic. But Blake Belladonna was nothing if not a romantic woman with a penchant for reading romance novels so… honestly, Yang should be prepared for such statements.

Yang smiled, reaching up and tucking a lock of hair behind Blake’s ear. “Well,” she said, lowering her hand to take Blake’s, “I’ll be here whenever you’re ready.”

Blake smiled back, squeezing the hand in her own. _I love you,_ sat on the tip of her tongue and stayed there, but it was in her eyes, the way they softened. She was scared, but she hoped Yang could see it.

Yang squeezed her hand back, smile still firmly in place. “You going to be okay?”

Blake chuckled. “Yeah. I’ll be fine. Thanks.”

“It’s what I’m here for,” Yang said. She leaned just a little closer and whispered, “Always.” Then, with one last brief squeeze of her hand, Yang let go of the woman in her arms, brushing gently past her as she joined the rest of their group who were bickering over next steps.

Blake could’ve melted. Even after being so ashamed moments before, Blake felt like she could take on Salem herself now.

She took a deep breath to steady the pounding of her heart and made her way over to join the conversation that was quickly getting heated as Qrow joined the fray.

“We’re out of options! Sometimes you just need to know when to call it quits, kid.” He said, patting around the inside of his coat for his flask.

“We can’t just ‘call it quits,’ Uncle Qrow! People are depending on us,” Ruby said, temper flaring ever so slightly.

Qrow scoffed, uncapping his flask and bringing it to his lips. Ruby scowled.

“ _Fine,_ ” she said. “People are depending on _me._ And _my_ friends. If you want out that’s _fine._ But we don’t quit just because it gets tough. That’s not what hunters and huntresses do. I’m going to live up to the name, Uncle Qrow. If you don’t want to, that’s on you.”

Qrow sighed before speaking again. “It’s _pointless._ Besides, you’re just a bunch of kids. Even Ozpin said--”

“I don’t give a _damn_ what Ozpin said!” Ruby shouted, hands balling into fists at her sides. Everyone’s eyes were on her with rapt attention. The silence was palpable. “We’ve come this far without the ‘adults’ telling us what to do. We’ve saved people. We’ve _helped_. And we’ve grown. And we didn’t need anyone to tell us what the right path was.”

Qrow, to his credit, shut up. Maybe he could see the determination in her eyes, the strength and resilience that had gotten her so far. Maybe he saw a glimpse of someone who once was; reflected in orbs of silver. Someone he’d never doubt.

Qrow’s brow softened, his eyes sad; but it was clear he wasn’t going to speak again. Ruby sighed, shoulders sagging.

“Right,” Jaune said, breaking the awkward silence. “Now that _that’s_ settled.” He turned to Ruby. “I may have a… plan.”

Ruby perked up. “Really?”

Jaune ran a hand through his hair. “Don’t… get too excited…”

Looks were shared between teammates.

“…Why not?” Ruby asked, eyebrow arching.

“It… might be better to go over this somewhere more… private,” Jaune mumbled, looking over at the base.

 

 

Back at the house, they went over Jaune’s plan. It was less than desirable and only 100% risky, but once the details were ironed out it seemed doable. Highly doable. Weiss would convince Cordo she wished to return to Atlas, she’d board an airship, smuggling Maria on to pilot, then, when they were out of range of the radar, give any additional guards the boot.

Meanwhile, Blake would make sure the radar was down, so Weiss and Maria could circle back and pick up the rest of the team without raising suspicion from the base.

In theory, it could work. But that was in theory, and honestly, Yang just wasn’t fond of the idea. It left Blake vulnerable and without backup if something went wrong. Not that she felt Blake couldn’t handle herself, but she didn’t want her to have to alone. She’d only agreed to the plan once it was set that she’d be able to drive Blake closer to the relay tower on Bumblebee. At least then someone would be around.

Once the plan was set, everyone went their separate ways to get rest before the big day of breaking the law.

As the room cleared out, Yang hesitated, watching as Blake lingered towards the back of the group that was heading down the hall and up the stairs. Jaune, Nora, and Ren disappeared around a corner on the second floor and Yang heard two doors click shut down the hallway on the first. Taking a deep breath, she started walking down the hallway herself, towards the room she had been sharing with Blake. She found herself hesitating at the door.

Should she knock? It was her room too, but Blake might be getting changed. Not that she hadn’t see it before, but what would it mean now? Would it feel different? Would it be different? Would Blake get mad?

She couldn’t stand there all night so she opted for knocking. It felt silly and her embarrassment only grew when Blake swung the door open, looking at her with an eyebrow raised and a hand on her hip.

“Did you seriously just knock on your own door?” Blake asked, a teasing smile spreading across her lips.

Yang rolled her eyes, brushing past Blake into their shared room. She heard Blake shut the door behind them as she made her way over to her bed.

“I don’t know what the rules are now, Blake,” Yang said, flopping onto her back on the bed and staring up at the ceiling. “What if you were getting changed and I just waltzed right in! Your _decency!_ ”

Blake chuckled and Yang felt the bed dip next to her. She glanced over to see Blake sitting on the side of her bed, eyes full of warm light and a calm smile on her lips. Blake took Yang’s right hand in both of hers, playing with the metal fingers.

“I think I would’ve survived,” Blake said. She looked up from Yang’s hand to meet her eyes. “Nothing you haven’t seen before, Yang. We used to share a dorm, remember?” She added with a chuckle.

Yang blushed. “Yeah… but now… I don’t know. Isn’t it like… different now?”

Blake shrugged. “I don’t know. You ogled me a lot back then, so I really doubt anything would be different.”

Yang sat straight up. “I never _ogled_ you!” She gasped, defensively.

“Oh please, your eyes were glued to me from day one,” Blake said with a roll of her eyes.

“I— _what?”_ Yang said.

“ _I love your bow! It goes great with your… pajamas!_ I mean, really, Yang?” Blake said, teasing.

Yang laughed lightly. “That’s not _ogling_ though! It was a compliment! You looked cute, sue me.”

Blake laughed. “Okay, fine. You didn’t ogle me on day one,” she relented. “But don’t think I didn’t notice you eying me all those times in the locker room,” she added, smirking.

Yang’s face went _red_. Like, color-of-her-changed-eyes red, and Blake didn’t know something like that was possible to even _do_ to Yang Xiao Long.

“I—I, um…” Yang stuttered.

Blake’s jaw dropped. “Oh. Oh! Oh my god, I—I was just kidding!” She said, a blush of her own starting to crawl across her cheeks. She let out a bit of a chuckle at the thought. “Did… did you really…?”

Yang groaned. “It—it wasn’t like _that_ , or anything!”

Blake snickered. “You _totally_ checked me out in school.”

Yang groaned again. “Blake, I swear…”

“And now here you are pretending to care about my _decency_ ,” Blake said with a smirk.

“ _Blake,_ ” Yang whined.

“I mean I _guess_ it’s nice to know you care about it _now_ at least…” Blake said with a roll of her eyes.

“Ugh, shut _up!_ ” Yang said, lunging forward, wrapping her arms around Blake’s waist, and wrestling her onto the mattress. Blake let out a small gasp followed by a string of giggles that Yang felt scatter across her chest as Blake’s arms wrapped around her neck, holding her close as they settled on the bed.

They stayed like that for a moment, Yang half on top of Blake, legs tangled together, both of their bodies gently shaking with laughter. Slowly their breathing evened out and Blake became hyper aware of the length of Yang’s warm body draped over her own; of the soft hair brushing against her cheek, the rise and fall of Yang’s chest putting pressure against her own, the leg wedged between her thighs. Heat flared in her cheeks and she let out a long breath to steady herself. Yang giggled and Blake felt the ears on top of her head twitch straight up.

“Sorry,” Yang said, pushing herself up onto her forearms and hovering over Blake. “That tickled,” she added, brushing some of Blake’s hair out of her eyes with a small smile, trailing her fingers over her cheek once she was done. Yang let out a soft breath and shook her head as her eyes bounced around Blake’s features. “You’re so beautiful…”

Blake blushed, clearing her throat and rolling her eyes. “Ogling…” she sing-songed, trying to fight her own insecurities away. She wasn’t used to having someone _look_ at her like that. Objectively, Blake knew she wasn’t _bad looking_ , but to have someone like Yang call her beautiful?

Yang shook her head and chuckled. “Maybe I am…” Yang said, low and sultry, allowing her gaze to dip just a little lower. Her eyes bounced up to meet Blake’s again, seeing gold almost completely lost to the black of her pupils. “Is… that okay?”

Blake swallowed and nodded. A quick “mhmm” all she could manage to say.

Yang laughed, ducking her head onto Blake’s shoulder and planting a quick kiss to her neck. “All that teasing and you’re stunned silent by one compliment?” she mumbled against her neck.

A shiver ran down Blake’s body. She slid her arms from around Yang’s neck to push gently on her shoulders, Yang immediately propped herself up again, looking down at Blake curiously.

“Sorry,” she said. “Too much?”

Blake shook her head, heart pounding as she looked at the woman above her. She wordlessly shifted until she was cradling Yang’s jaw between shaky hands. Her eyes glanced down to Yang’s lips, and Blake’s tongue darted out to wet her own in anticipation. She drew her gaze back up to meet Yang’s, to make sure they were both okay with this, and her breath caught with the look of awe in lilac eyes. Yang let out a shaky breath as she shut her eyes and leaned down, resting her forehead against Blake’s. Blake ran her thumbs over Yang’s jaw and Yang’s lips parted, a ghost of a breath washing over Blake’s as she finally closed her eyes and tilted her chin up.

When their lips met it was with shuttering breaths and feather-light touches. Blake hummed as she melted into the sensation and pushed up a little further, lips moving against Yang’s a little more sure. Yang let out a sharp exhale through her nose, matching her partner’s enthusiasm, as her hands finally found home around the sides of Blake’s rib cage.

Blake pulled back, just slightly, just enough to tilt her head a little further to the right, to tangle her right hand into Yang’s hair, to snake her left hand down and around Yang’s waist until it was resting on the small of her back, guiding Yang’s body back to where it should be, locked tight against her own. When their mouths met again it was with _tongues,_ and Blake could’ve sworn she was going to pass out with the way Yang groaned, a blissful buzz across her lips as fingers tightened their grip on her sides.

Lost to the absolute bliss that was kissing Yang Xiao Long, Blake’s ears twitched back against her head, her eyebrows pinched up, and she let out a whine as she tried to pull Yang even closer. The shift of her hips and arch of her spine that came next were absolutely subconscious, but they still _happened_ and Blake still gasped at the sensations that came along with the motions, mouth breaking from Yang’s.

When Blake’s eyes fluttered open, Yang’s eyes were wide and her breathing was labored. Lips full and red. Blake felt a swell of pride in her chest knowing it was her that did that, but it was quickly overshadowed by embarrassment as she realized what just happened.

“Whoa,” Yang whispered, thumbs trailing lazy patterns against Blake’s sides.

Blake felt her face go red and she unraveled her arms from around Yang to cover it. “S-sorry…”

“What? Hey, hey, don’t,” Yang said, reaching up and prying Blake’s hands away from her face. She looked down at the woman in her arms and laughed lightly, confused. “Why would you ever be sorry for that? That was…” Yang cleared her throat, breaking eye contact.

Blake laughed, a little uneasy, but more relaxed than before. One of her hands settled on Yang’s arm while the other twirled a lock of golden hair around her finger. “Yeah…” Blake said. “I just… I didn’t mean to um…”

Yang chuckled, looking back up at her. “Well I mean…” she made a show of puffing her cheeks out as she let out a strong exhale, eyes going wider for added flare. “Hell of a first kiss,” she said, nodding.

Blake laughed and rolled her eyes, letting her hand that was playing with Yang's hair fall. “More like third.”

Yang smiled, but shook her head. “Nope. When we’re old and people ask us about our first kiss? I’m telling them all that it was so amazing Blake Belladonna tried to jump my bones thirty seconds in.”

Blake blushed, but laughed, swatting playfully at Yang’s arm. “You’re _terrible_.”

Yang laughed softly, ducking her head to lie in the crook of Blake’s neck. “And _you’re_ incredible,” she mumbled against her skin before trailing kisses up her neck and jaw, each one leaving Blake grinning wider before Yang’s lips finally met her own in a light kiss. It was amazing how easily they fell into this. It felt so right. Like Yang’s lips were only meant to kiss hers. Like her body had been sculpted with its sole purpose being to fit against Blake’s.

Yang chuckled against Blake’s mouth. “Stop _smiling,_ so I can _kiss you_.”

Blake laughed, running her nose along the slope of Yang’s. “Sorry.” Blake took a steadying breath, relaxing her lips. “I’m sorry.”

Yang laughed again. “No apology needed, babe.” She kissed Blake soundly for a moment, enjoying the curve of her barely-there smile against her own. She broke away, looking down at Blake and her heart stuttered. Black hair fanned across tan sheets. Golden eyes hooded. Pink lips parted slightly. Flushed skin tinted cheeks and peeked out of the crisscross of her crop top.

 _Oh._ Yang let out a shuttering breath.

Blake frowned, cocking an eyebrow and using both hands to tuck Yang’s hair behind her ears. “Hey, you okay?”

Yang’s face flushed. “I… uh… Yeah. I just… yeah.”

Blake smirked. “Eloquent.”

Yang rolled her eyes, leaning down and pecking Blake’s lips once more before rolling off of her and out of the bed. Blake missed her warmth instantly.

“Where you going?” Blake asked, propping herself up on her elbows as she watched Yang.

“Nowhere,” she said, smiling. “Just kicking off my boots before bed, and I’d rather them be on the other side of the room.” She chuckled. “They’re great for keeping warm and fighting, but that makes for some awesome smells, as I’m sure you’re aware.”

Blake’s nose crinkled. “Ugh, yeah…”

Once Yang’s boots and jacket were tucked away in a far corner of the room – next to Blake’s, she made her way back over to the bed Blake was still lounging on. She hesitated next to it.

Blake had flipped so her head was up by the pillow, and she raised an eyebrow as Yang stood there.

“Are you waiting for an invitation?” Blake teased, mouth twitching into a smirk.

Yang chuckled and shrugged, but her words were sincere. “I don’t know. Maybe?”

Blake’s smile softened and she patted the space next to her. Yang laughed and crawled up into the bed, switching the light off and helping Blake and herself settle under the covers. In the darkness, she felt Blake’s fingers twine with her own. She shifted a little closer, tilting her head up so she could press a kiss to Blake’s forehead. She could just barely make out the shape of Blake’s ears flattening against her head, contented, and she smiled against her briefly before settling back with a sigh.

“Feeling ready for tomorrow?” Yang asked, the worry at the back of her mind finally winning out. Blake’s answer was immediate.

“With you at my side?” Blake mumbled, already half asleep. “Absolutely.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I NEEDED FLUFF BEFORE THE NEXT CHAPTER GETS A LITTLE MORE SERIOUS. (nothing BAD I promise... in case you haven't noticed I'm pretty much staying canon with plot ;) ) 
> 
> Anyway! Thank you so much for reading!!! Please please please feel free to drop a comment, kudos, bookmark, subscription, whatever if you like it! I'm also 100% open to constructive feedback as well, so leave that too, if you have it :) 
> 
> Love you all and I cannot express enough what some of your comments on this fic have meant to me so far. Have an amazing day/ night wherever you are and know you all rock!
> 
> Tumblr: @empressofedge if you wanna talk, get updates on this story, send me asks, yell at me to write, I'm open to it all lol


	7. Demons

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So! I'm not sure about warnings for this chapter. I'm going to say that there's some implied past abuse, but it doesn't get much more graphic than the show would. Other than that I think we're set! Enjoy the ride.

“Don’t worry,” Blake said with a chuckle and roll of her eyes. “This isn’t the first time I’ve disabled Atlas security.”

Terra had been so kind as to help the team out with some tips on how to ensure only the signal to the military base would be cut at the tower, but she was still wary, not wanting to find herself in deeper trouble than she already was at work. She stared back at Blake through the camera on her scroll for a second.

“This conversation _never happened_ ,” she said, hanging up.

Blake chuckled, pocketing her scroll before looping her now free arm around Yang’s waist. They were almost to the drop off, and as much as Blake liked clinging to Yang on the back of her motorcycle, the cold wind cutting across her cheeks left something to be desired.

As they passed into a clearing, Yang slowed her bike to a halt, and Blake let out a breath, steadying herself as determination and focus took over. She un-snaked her arms from around Yang’s waist and hopped off the back of Bumblebee, starting to walk towards the tree line on the far side of the clearing. She’d have to stay up high in the branches if she wanted to stay undetected. Her eyes scanned for a good starting point until Yang’s voice cut through the air, giving her pause.

“You sure I shouldn’t come with?” Yang asked, voice warm against the cold breeze.

Blake stopped, but didn’t turn around as she started talking, still scanning for a good place to start her trip.

“More intruders means we’re more likely to be seen,” she said. “Besides, stealth isn’t exactly your—” Blake turned around and was met with raised eyebrows and crossed arms. “Um… I mean… you’re great! And I’ll hurry back!” Blake said, hands coming up in an awkward shrug.

Yang couldn’t hold her faux offense for long, what with Blake’s adorably flustered response. She cracked a smile and sighed, tension ebbing from her shoulders. “Go,” she said with a nod.

Blake’s gaze softened in return, and she took a few quick steps forward until she was leaning over the handlebars of Yang’s bike, pressing their lips together. Yang’s arms uncrossed, her right hand coming up to cup the back of Blake’s neck and hold her in place as she kissed her in return.

When Blake pulled back, it wasn’t far – mostly because of Yang’s hand on the back of her neck pressing her close. She felt Yang’s warm breath tickle her cheeks as she let out a sigh. Blake’s eyes blinked open, only to find Yang’s still shut.

“Just… be careful,” Yang said, quietly. “I know you’re, like, a badass ninja and stuff,” she said. Blake giggled as she continued. “But, y’know… I guess just… keep being one,” she said, eyes finally opening to meet Blake’s, her thumb rubbing gently at the back of Blake’s neck. “I…” Yang searched Blake’s eyes, her sentence dying on her tongue with a sigh.

Blake smirked. “You know I’m just going to dismantle some tech, right? Quick job, in and out, and we’ll be on our way to Atlas. I’m not going off to war, Yang.”

Yang laughed at that, a little embarrassed. “Yeah,” she said, dropping her grip on Blake’s neck. Blake leaned back just a bit. “Yeah, I know.”

Blake rested her forearms on Bumblebee’s handlebars. “And, if I run into any trouble, I’m more than capable of beating up a few guards.” She raised her eyebrows, smirk growing. “Don’t think, just ‘cause we’ve kissed a few times, I’ve forgotten how to handle myself.”

Yang chuckled, leaning forward against her bike, and cocking her head to the side. “As if. I would never date a _damsel._ ”

Blake laughed. “Good thing you have me, then.”

Yang smiled, leaning up and planting, one more, quick kiss to Blake’s lips. “Now seriously, _go._ Ruby’s gonna start wondering what’s up.”

Blake grinned, pecking Yang on lips and pushing away from the bike. She turned around slowly – not wanting to miss the soft expression on Yang’s face longer than she had to – then hopped into a jog towards the tree line.

“Going in on foot,” she said into her comm, “won’t be long.”

 

 

Blake took a deep breath as she scoped out the relay tower from her perch in a tree nearby. Her ears twitched this way and that, trying to pick up any nearby threats, but she was met with silence.

Complete silence.

Blake squinted. That didn’t seem right.

Her gaze dropped to the gate around the bottom of the tower. There was a security booth next to it, but she couldn’t make out any movement from inside. Doing a quick scan of the area, Blake dropped to the ground, dashing straight to the back of the booth where there was a door with a small window. Quietly, she pushed onto her tiptoes and glanced through the window.

She almost ducked back down when she saw the telltale Atlas uniform on the man sitting in the chair, but instead her ears flattened and her eyes went wide. She let out a small gasp as she saw the red stain pooling on the crisp white chest of the military jacket.

Blake dropped back to the ground, unsheathing her weapon and glancing around for any sign of the man’s attacker. She went to radio her team when a shot rang out, blasting her scroll from her hand. She leapt back into a defensive stance and blocked the next bullets that came her way. When the last bullet was clear, Blake finally got a look at her attacker and her breath caught, her heart stalled. His shoes crunched across dirt with measured, patient steps.

_Step._

She was 12 and there were righteous rallies.

_Step._

She was 15 and there were rough kisses on rooftops.

_Step._

She was 17 and there were rivers of red washed over gold.

_Step._

_Step._

_Stop._

He _smirked._ Dirty and arrogant. “Hello, Blake,” he said, holstering his gun and flicking his sword clean of blood. As always, she wasn’t sure if he was even looking at her, his eyes hidden by black fabric.

Blake bared her teeth, jaw clenching, ears pinned back as she settled into a fighting stance.

Adam frowned, if you could call it that. His lips twitching down in disapproval as he clicked his tongue. He spoke, shaking his head. “Always, Blake. Why do you always have to hurt me like this?”

“Shut up,” Blake said, surprising even herself with the strength behind her words.

“But, darling,” he said, twirling his sword in his hand once. His voice darkened with anger as he continued, “isn’t it so nice to finally have some time to ourselves?”

There was a beat.

A breath.

A gust of wind.

And then the clash of metal.

 

 

The call that came over the radio was distressing to say the least. The radar was still up, Blake wasn’t responding on the comm line, and Yang was about five seconds from having a heart attack as she mounted Bumblebee and took off towards the relay tower at breakneck speed.

She’d stayed cool when responding to Ruby and the rest of the team, but inside all Yang could feel was concern. There was no way Blake would drop the ball like this; not unless something was preventing her from doing her job. And it would have to be a hell of a something to actually preoccupy her long enough that she wouldn’t be able to complete the task anyway.

Yang’s mind raced with all the worst possibilities as she burst through the tree line, skidding to a halt in front of the relay tower. She quickly switched Bumblebee off to have a better awareness of her surroundings. It was _silent._ Eerily silent.

Dismounting her bike, Yang’s eyes roamed the area. There was no one. _No one._ How could that be possible? Terra had said the tower was pretty well guarded, and besides, with how touchy the Atlas Military currently was, you’d think they’d have their tower under lock and key.

No, this was wrong. Really wrong.

But Blake had to have been here. Yang hadn’t run into any trouble on her way over and she had been riding a motorcycle. Blake skipping stealthily from the branches of trees certainly wouldn’t have encountered any problems.

So, the question stood: _Where the hell was she?_

Yang’s jaw clenched. If Blake ran into trouble at the tower and fled, she would have left some kind of trail. Yang took a deep breath, glancing at her surroundings more closely. There wasn’t much, but there was a security booth at the gate. Figuring it was as good a place as any to start, Yang made her way over. She gave pause when she saw the back of the Atlas Military cap on the man inside, but then squinted. She’d just pulled up to a secure military location on her _very loud_ motorcycle. Why wasn’t this guard more concerned?  

Noting that the door seemed to be at the back, Yang made her way behind. She readied her weapon and took a deep breath before punching in the door.

_What had Blake said about subtlety?_

Arm cocked back and ready to get some answers, Yang’s eyes went wide and she let out a gasp. He was _dead._ Stabbed through and through, straight through the heart. Red pooled on his white uniform and Yang’s left arm shook slightly.

This couldn’t have been Blake’s work. She wasn’t a murder. She’d specifically left her past behind because she refused to kill. Refused to use fear and violence as a means of revolution.

But if it _wasn’t_ Blake, then who would—?

Before she could completely process the scene in front of her, Yang heard _gunfire._ It rang loud and unmistakable, not too far in the distance.

_Blake._

It had to be. Yang would recognize the sound of Blake’s shots anywhere. There was a cadence to the way she fired that was so undeniably _her_ and Yang was relieved to know she was still fighting. But why was she fighting at all? What _happened_ here?

More shots sounded in the distance and those _weren’t_ Blake’s. They rang deeper, shots far too spaced out for Blake’s signature rapid fire. But there was something terrifyingly familiar about the sounds that Yang didn’t have the time or brain-space to decode.

Instead, she booked it to her bike and started up the engine before tearing off in the direction of the gunfire.

 

 

Blake swung from tree to tree as fast as she could. She needed space. Space to see what Adam’s next move would be. The trees played too much to his advantage. She didn’t need them to fight with stealth and precision, but he did.

“Can’t you do anything besides run?” Adam had been hurling insults at her since the beginning of the fight, and at this point, she wasn’t even going to humor it.

It was manipulation. She’d seen it a hundred times over from him by now, but only recently was able to put it together. Everything he said were lies aimed to keep her down, make her weak. Make her believe he was stronger. Better. In charge.

But he wasn’t. Not anymore.

_Fine. He wants to stop running?_

Blake swung from a branch, hurling herself forward and planting her feet onto the next tree’s trunk briefly before launching herself back at Adam. He leaped forward, meeting her halfway, and Blake adjusted midair as she saw his sword rear back and slash forward. Blake curled her arm out of her jacket as he sliced through it. After his follow through, Blake kicked her legs out, _hard_. A small amount of satisfaction coursing through her as her coat fell away and Adam went careening backwards.

He, unfortunately, managed to land upright, and Blake let off a few shots, some hitting him while he sliced through the others with a scowl. They stood there, a menacing staring contest taking place for a couple beats before Blake took off again. She could see the edge of the tree line and dashed forward, turning and flipping backwards to put a little more distance between her and Adam.

If she wasn’t fighting for her life, the view would have been gorgeous. The natural bridge was backdropped by a beautiful waterfall that led into a rushing river below. A far too romantic setting for the current situation.

Blake let out a breath, standing upright slowly as Adam emerged from the shadows of the trees. If she could keep up a mix of distance and dodging, he wouldn’t be able to use his sword. Something Blake knew was a weakness in his fighting style. He relied too heavily on his semblance. If she could just take that away, the fight just might swing in her favor.

A breath later and Adam was rocketing forward, slashing out with Wilt and Blake dodged, leaving a clone to take the hit. She got in a few decent blows before he struck again, and this time, she was ready. Blake took the opportunity to redirect Adam’s attempted stab in the direction of her own sheath, twisting Wilt out of Adam’s grasp once it was secured.

Annoyed, but undeterred, Adam unholstered Blush and fired. Blake quickly dodged and managed to land a few solid kicks in before pulling a complicated flip that landed her behind Adam. This time, it didn’t work to her advantage. She’d landed facing away from him and wasn’t able to continue her onslaught of strikes, which left Adam a window to hammer down at her with Blush in sheath form. Blake managed to turn in time to use half of Gambol Shroud to block the blow, but Adam was able to grasp her left wrist in his hand, grip tight and bruising.

She grunted as she pushed back against the man towering above her.

“I wouldn’t have to be doing this if you just behaved!” He shouted. All too familiar.

Blake’s ears twitched down and she gritted her teeth, realizing a moment too late that her catch of Blush, and detained left hand, left Wilt accessible.

Adam seized the opportunity without hesitation, releasing his grip on Blake’s wrist just long enough to grab the hilt of his sword and tear it out of Blake’s grasp, sending the sheath half of Gambol Shroud careening to the side, distracting Blake just long enough for Adam to come back and smack the side of her head with an angry growl. Blake grunted, tumbling to the ground, ears ringing and just barely hearing Adam scream again.

“But you’re selfish!”

Gasping, she only just had time to scramble forward and use her weapon to half-block his next blow, sending her tumbling again.

“You’re a coward!” He said, taking slow, deliberate steps towards her.

Blake panted from her spot on the ground, bracing herself on her hands and knees. Her ears curled in, but it wasn’t in fear. It was defiance. Adam had no idea who she even was. He never knew. He only ever saw what he _wanted_ her to be. What he tried to mold her into. And the second Blake broke that mold, she was _selfish_. She was a _coward._

“You’re _delusional_ ,” she found herself spitting at him, voice dripping with distain. It earned her another hard hit, to the ribs this time. Even though she caught the blow with the flat side of her sword, the momentum was enough to knock her own blade into her, and she let out a grunt as the flat side of her sword slammed into her side, and sent her rolling onto her back. She propped herself up with her forearms as Adam lowered his sword to line up with the scar on her hip.

Blake would be lying if she said her mind didn’t flash back to Beacon. To laying on the bloodstained floor of her old cafeteria. To watching someone she’d thought she’d loved nearly kill the woman she _did_.

It lasted only a heartbeat before Blake had to be in the moment again, raise her sword to block the angry blow coming her way. She may have expected to miss, or even get her weapon knocked out of her hands, but what she didn’t expect was watching her blade snap in half right before her eyes. A little part of her soul died watching her weapon clatter to the ground, broken in two.

Her eyes bounced back to Adam, her glare hard. He stepped forward again and she half expected the final blow, but instead he stopped. Standing directly in front of her, Adam sheathed his sword and raised a hand to the black cloth covering his eyes. Blake knew what to expect, but it didn’t make the sight easier to bare. She glanced away, knowing it would only make her feel _sorry_ for him to look into his eyes.

“Y’know, Blake,” he said, letting the black cloth float to the ground, “a lot of people have hurt me. I’ve been beaten, branded, broken in. But _you,_ ” he let out a dark chuckle shaking his head, “you’ve hurt me more than anything else I’ve had to endure.”

Blake’s attention snapped up, her expression a look of complete disgust as she met Adam’s gaze. The SDC brand across his left eye was as sickening as she remembered it being, but her pity for him didn’t come as she’d expected.

“You’ve got to be fucking joking,” she said through clenched teeth.

Adam’s gaze hardened. “You’ve got quite the mouth on you, now, huh?” He said, voice dangerous. He scoffed. “With no one keeping an eye on you, it was bound to happen.”

Blake’s face contorted in anger, more than she ever thought possible.

“But I’m not joking, my love,” Adam continued, voice now eerily calm, his shoulders untensing just by centimeters. “You? You didn’t leave scars. You just left _me_ alone.”

Blake had a quip on the tip of her tongue, but it died there when she heard the familiar rumbling sound in the distance, her right ear twitching out in the direction of it.

She squinted.

No. It couldn’t be. How did she even _find_ her?

“So, tell me, Blake,” Adam said, unsheathing his sword yet again, raising it, poised to strike, “how does it feel to be alone?”

Blake’s eyes snapped back up to Adam’s and she heard the rumbling getting closer. It was do or die time, and Blake had to trust her instincts. As his blade bore down on her, she leaped out of the way at the last possible second, leaving a shadow clone behind to take the blow. It was a slightly horrifying thing to witness. Her clone’s look of shock as the sword cut into her, but it would be worth it. Backup was coming. _Yang_ was coming.

Blake picked up the part of Gambol Shroud that wasn’t broken, the noise of it scraping across hard dirt grabbing Adam’s attention as he whirled to look at her, anger burning in his eyes.

Standing tall, with the sound of the motor growing closer, Blake set him with a look that screamed fury.

“I’m not alone.”

 

 

Later, Yang would completely insist that the fact she actually _hit_ Adam with Bumblebee was one hundred percent planned out and intentional, but, in all honesty, it was sheer luck.

Or maybe karma.

Fate perhaps.

No, no. _Destiny._

Whatever the case, that would be later, because right now Adam’s eyes were staring at her, clear as day, nothing but complete hatred burning behind scarred eyes.

“ _You.”_ He said it like a curse. Like Yang’s very existence was an _inconvenience_ to him.

She almost smirked. She’d be a hell of a lot more than an inconvenience.

Adam went for his weapon, still slow from taking a motorcycle to the face, and Yang fired off a warning shot.

He looked up at her in disbelief and this time, she did smirk.

“ _Me,_ ” she said.

“Nice entrance,” Blake said, slowly making her way to Yang’s side. Neither of them took their eyes off of their adversary as they spoke.

“Thanks,” Yang said, matter-of-fact. “You know me. Super stealthy.”

Blake cracked a small smile. “Well, in this case, I think your boldness was definitely an advantage.”

Yang shrugged. “What can I say? I had the high ground.”

“ _Enough!_ ” Adam’s voice cut through their banter, and they both fell silent, the energy in the air shifting, and Blake could feel a choice given in the quiet that followed.

Yang was the one to break the silence, stepping forward. “Look. You can walk away,” she said evenly. “This doesn’t have to end in bloodshed. But, I’m telling you; this is your _last_ chance.”

Adam hesitated, and Blake thought for a moment that maybe he would back down. That maybe he valued his life just enough to leave forever. But then, a grin broke out on his face and he let out a menacing chuckle, shaking his head.

“Do you even believe that? Or are you just saying that so you don’t have to die trying to protect her?” He asked, nodding in Blake’s direction.

Yang’s response was instant, hands raising, ready to fight. It was only then Blake noticed it, the shaking in Yang’s left hand. She knew the feeling of it all too well, and Adam saw it as weakness where it was strength. Blake stepped forward, grasping Yang’s hand in her own, feeling the shake of it stop the instant their skin touched. She interlaced their fingers, and Yang’s hands dropped to her sides, eyes softening the instant they met Blake’s. Blake set her with a calming look, and a nod of her head that said: _I got you._

When she spoke to Adam, her voice didn’t waver. It was strong, her confidence building from the support of the hand squeezing hers back. “She’s not protecting me, Adam,” she started. She looked at Yang once more, then down at their hands, before looking back at Adam. “And I’m _not_ protecting her. We’re protecting each other.”

Adam looked at Blake in disbelief. At the hand grasping her own. At _both_ of them, standing in front of him like they were _meant_ to be there.

Adam let out a sound of disgust, putting it all together. He already knew it was there. He’d known since Beacon. But to see Blake’s hand in that of a human’s? “ _Her?”_ He said, shaking his head with disappointment. “A _human?_ You really have lost your mind without me. She’ll _never_ love you the way I do.”

Blake’s hold on Yang’s hand tightened. “What we had wasn’t love, Adam. I’d thought… maybe at one point it was, but…” Blake looked over at Yang, her eyes questioning, trying to get a read on what her partner was thinking. All she gave her was her own curious look, as if the words coming from Blake were more important than the possibility this was all going to end very poorly. And Blake realized – in that split second – that they were, because if things went south fast, Yang had to _know._

Blake looked back at Adam. “But now I know, whatever it was… it wasn’t _this,_ ” Blake said, shaking her and Yang’s hands for emphasis. “Because _this_ …” She turned her head to Yang again, the next words coming out in only a whisper, just a little shaky. “This is love.”

Even though Yang didn’t say anything back, the look she hit her with spoke volumes, and Blake’s heart beat faster for all the right reasons.

“How trustworthy you sound,” Adam said, voice dripping with sarcasm. He turned his attention to Yang. “You know,” he said, his voice reaching out, trying to find common ground, “she used to tell me she loved me. That she’d always be by my side.” He scoffed, looking at Blake. “Look how well that turned out.”

Yang managed to tear her gaze away from Blake, her eyes hardening into a squint of disbelief. Was this absolute douche canoe actually trying to turn her against Blake? Seriously?

Yang managed not to say _that_ out loud, settling for something she hoped would sting just a little more than half-assed insults. “Did she used to say those things to you? Or just the person you were pretending to be?”

Adam looked back to Blake. “So, I just wasn’t good enough for you, huh?”

 _Pretty fucking much._ Yang thought, as Blake spoke up.

“You _know_ it’s so much more than that.”

Adam shook his head. “All I know is, you made your choice.” His hand fell to the hilt of his sword, ready to fight. “And I’ve made mine.”

Blake’s hand went a little slack, and Yang’s slipped out of her grasp. She could hear the sound of Yang readying her weapons, but Blake hesitated. She looked at Adam, trying to see any amount of good that used to be there, and came up blank. It was a hard truth, but maybe there’d never been any good there. Still, she never wanted it to come to this.

With a final sigh, Blake raised the unbroken half of Gambol Shroud and readied herself.

“We got this, babe.” She heard Yang mumble next to her. “You’re not getting rid of me that easily.”

Blake smiled, feeling just a little lighter.

And then, they shot head first into the fight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I NEVER write fight scenes, so this chapter was insanely difficult for me. Please let me know what you think!
> 
> I hope I tagged everything alright, please let me know that as well. I always want to make sure people are comfortable reading my work!
> 
> Other than that, I just really want to hear from y'all in general! Hit me up with comments, even if it's just to say hi! They all make me smile :) OR drop kudos, a bookmark, a sub to the story... however you show you like something, please let me know! It means a lot! 
> 
> A HUGE THANK YOU to everyone that's been reading so far, I hope you're still enjoying! 
> 
> Hit me up on tumblr (with asks, follows, yell at me to fucking write because Jesus do I need it sometimes...): @empressofedge
> 
> AND Have a great day/ night! Thank you for reading! (P.S. THEY LOVE EACH OTHER. love how THAT snuck its way into this chapter lol)


	8. Nevermore

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's the LAST CHAPTER! Dun Dun DUUUUUUUUUUN! Prepare yourselves! (for awesomeness and a happy ending, I swear.)

Yang’s right fist was the first thing to collide with Adam’s face, and she’d be lying if she said it didn’t feel good. She hoped he tasted metal.

Blake was quick to play off of her, taking the opportunity to flip over the top of Adam and kick him back in Yang’s direction after he stumbled. Yang couldn’t help but think it was like a twisted game of volleyball, played to the death.

As she smashed Adam backward with a punch, Yang caught sight of Blake flipping towards her sword that laid in two on the ground. _What happened there?_

Blake managed to grab her broken weapon mid-flip. Landing on her feet, she fired it off at Adam, hanging onto the ribbon as her gun and sword spiraled at him like a razor.

Teeth bared, Adam finally regained some composure, given the split second to reset and deflect Blake’s attack back at her.

Not thinking twice, Yang shot herself forward, grabbing the gun midair and planting her feet before using her momentum to whip Blake forward in classic Bumblebee fashion.

…Well, almost classic Bumblebee fashion. Yang felt odd being on the other end of it, watching Blake get hurled at Adam from a distance. Watching their weapons clash and fight for dominance.

And then she felt her stomach drop when Blake ultimately lost that battle, rocketing back towards the side of the bridge, losing her grip on her weapon as it scattered off to the side. Blake caught herself, just on the edge of bridge, and managed to yank herself back up, but Yang could tell by the way she leaned down, still on her knees, that she was winded.

Adam chuckled, turning to face Yang. “Looks like it’s just me and you, Yang.”

Blake made a move to stand up, but went stumbling back down with a groan of pain.

“Hey, it’s okay, Blake. Take a second,” Yang said, glancing at Blake for only a moment before fixing her sights on Adam. “I can handle him.”

Blake hissed in pain, a look of worry still on her face, but she knew she needed to give her aura a chance to heal her.

Adam laughed. “Like you handled me at Beacon?”

Yang flinched. It shook her. She _hated_ it, but it shook her. And Adam knew it, with the way his grin widened.

The next few moments were a blur. A flurry of swipes and slashes, kicks and jabs and crosses; gunfire. Blake could barely keep up, seeing double as she tried to right her vision and make the pain in her side go away.

Blake winced as Yang took a particularly hard hit that sent her skidding backwards and landing on her hands and knees, right next to her. Blake leaned over and brushed Yang’s arm with her fingertips as she started to push herself up. Yang paused, glancing at Blake, before her eyes fixed back on Adam who stood calmly quite a distance away. Arrogant confidence washing off of him in waves.

Blake spoke quickly, under her breath. “Try not to hit his sword. His semblance is like yours; he stores up energy in his sword and then releases it whenever he wants.”

Yang let out a disbelieving huff, shaking her head. “Are you fucking kidding me? He gets to dish out damage without having to feel it? That’s just cheap.”

Yang stood up, slow but sturdy, before shooting forward, back into the fight. She heeded Blake’s warning, dodging and taking the lighter hits to her body to charge up, when possible, and taking quick jabs to his body when he left an opening.

And it was working.

She could feel the frustration building in the way he tried to get a rise out of her.

_Slash. Dodge._

“Hit me already!”

Adam lashed out again, fury in each swipe of his blade. Yang narrowly dodged a few of his hits, taking his punches and kicks to her body.

“What does she even see in you?!” Adam screamed, swiping out again, tactless, completely driven by the red that tinted his vision.

Yang was able to dodge again, but could feel herself getting winded, her aura running low. She knew she’d have to make a move soon.

“You’re just a coward like her!”

And that was it. The last bit of incentive Yang needed to know it was time. Adam could trash talk her all he wanted, but he didn’t get to call the bravest woman Yang knew a coward. She saw his strike incoming, felt her jaw set, her eyes flash red, boots plant themselves in the ground.

Yang was vaguely aware of the panicked shout of her name coming from Blake, but she smirked.

Adam’s blow came down _hard_ ; hard enough to erupt them both into a cloud of dirt as it made contact with its target. But Yang had been ready, and when the dust settled, his blade laid in the grasp of her hand.

Yang looked up at him, eyes and hair burning, and she felt a rush when she saw his wide-eyed look.

She scowled, vicious. “Gotcha.”

And with that, she wound up her left hand, all her stored-up power coursing through her as she finally brought her fist forward into Adam’s gut. It was like time slowed for a moment, before she finished the move off with a shot from her weapon, sending Adam rocketing backwards into the ground. Literally. He left a trench in the bridge at least ten yards long and Yang smirked as he slowly stood up, his aura depleting along with her own.

By habit, Adam reached for Wilt, only to be met with air. He looked around, frantically, before his eyes fell on Yang who had Wilt still firmly in her grasp.

She cocked an eyebrow. “Looking for this?” She said, waving his sword in the air for a split second before throwing it with all of her might over the side of the bridge and into the rushing waters below.

Adam, predictably, chased after it, a shouted “no” on his lips.

Looking over the ledge at his fallen weapon, he didn’t see Blake coming from his right, and so she laid into him with a fist to the face before he could recover enough to grab at Blush, the blow sending him stumbling backwards over the broken pieces of Gambol Shroud.

Their eyes met, and then everything spiraled.

Blake saw Adam lunge forward for the half of her weapon that laid between them, and felt herself do the same. Her pulse was rushing and she was vaguely aware of Yang sprinting in their direction as her hand curled around the familiar handle, her momentum carrying her upwards as she sunk the broken blade into Adam’s body with a yell.

After that, her vision tunneled. She was _there_ but she wasn’t. She saw the other end of Gambol Shroud get thrust through Adam’s back and out his chest, but she _didn’t._ Her arms pulled back, blade dripping with blood, but they _didn’t_. She watched Adam stumbled forward, land on his knees briefly before toppling over the edge of the bridge, but she _didn’t._ And she definitely _didn’t_ hear the sickening wet smack of bone hitting rock before a distant splash sounded and all she could hear then was the rushing of the blood in her ears, louder than even the waterfall.

Then she was shaking, hands recoiling from the weapon they were holding, as if it had burnt her. Her knees hit the ground hard, and she felt tears burn her cheeks as she looked at the rushing water ahead of her and could have sworn it was running red.

The next thing she knew, Yang was there. And Blake was _back._ And the waterfall ran clear, as she flung her arms around Yang, grasping onto her jacket and burying her face into blonde hair as sobs escaped her. She felt words spill out of her mouth between gasps. She repeated them over and over and over into Yang’s neck.

“I meant it,” she heard herself say. “Gods, please, I promise, I meant it. I – I meant it, Yang. I—I—”

Blake felt Yang’s hands come up to her shoulders, gently guiding her back so that she could look at her. Blake’s vision was blurry with tears, but she could still make out the soft lilac of Yang’s eyes. And she could feel Yang’s left hand come up and brush some of her hair out of her face, before cradling her jaw. Blake leaned into the touch instinctively, forehead coming to rest against Yang’s as she continued to sniffle and shake.

“Shh,” Yang said, rubbing small soothing circles into Blake’s shoulder with her thumb, “I know, Blake. I know.”

Blake’s eyes shut and her body shook with more sobs. Yang’s heart ached and her right hand came up to cradle Blake’s face. She wiped away some of Blake’s tears with her thumb as Blake’s left hand unlocked its vice-grip she had on Yang’s jacket, to cup the back of Yang’s hand.

Yang dipped her head a little, trying to get Blake to look at her, but her eyes were still squeezed shut. Yang let out a pained exhale and shuffled forward instead, hands dropping from Blake’s face, so her arms could encompass her as she tucked Blake’s head under her chin. Blake automatically fell into the embrace, hands once again gripping at Yang’s jacket as she cried into her chest.

Metal fingers combed through dark hair, scratching gently at Blake’s scalp to help sooth her. They stayed like that a while, until Blake’s sobs calmed, until she stopped shaking and her grip on Yang’s jacket finally loosened as she pulled back with a deep breath.

Yang’s hands slid down Blake’s arms, to her elbows, as Blake’s hands came to rest on Yang’s shoulders.

Blake sniffed, shaking her head. “I’m – I’m sorry, I—”

“Blake,” Yang said, shaking her head and reaching up with her left hand to wick away more tears, “you don’t have anything to apologize for. Okay?”

Golden eyes finally flicked up to meet lilac and something about the look in Yang’s eyes had Blake nodding her head.

Yang nodded back once. “Okay,” she said. She leaned forward and pressed her lips to Blake’s forehead. “Okay.”

The moment was so soft; a complete contrast to all of the events that just transpired, and Blake was having a hard time believing any of it was real. Part of her mourned, part of her rejoiced, part of her broke, and another part was repaired. She was so confused about so many things, but one thing she was certain of was that this is where she belonged.

“Blake?” Yang mumbled against the crown of her head after a moment.

“Yeah?” Blake asked in return, not bothering to pull back.

“I… I know you just went through a lot—”

Blake pulled back at that and looked into Yang’s eyes. She looked confused, a little wary. “ _We,_ ” Blake corrected, reaching up and cradling Yang’s jaw in her right hand. “We went through a lot.”

Honestly, the words felt like a massive understatement, but Blake figured neither one of them were really ready to call it what it was yet.

Yang gave her a small, thankful, smile. “We,” she said, nodding. “I know, we just went through a lot. But I think… I mean, we should probably get back to the others soon. There’s still a job to do, you know?”

Blake’s eyes widened, as if she had completely forgotten that there was a plan in the first place. As if she had completely forgotten she had a different part to play in today.

“Shit! The tower! I… they’re… they’re going to get caught! I didn’t get a chance to—”

Yang’s grip on Blake tightened just a little, to ground her as she started to spiral with guilt. Yang shook her head. “Whoa. Hey. Hey, hey, hey. It’s okay. Our team is strong, and they’ll obviously understand. Just… let’s calm down, okay?”

“But—”

“I said _calm_ ,” Yang said, rubbing her hands slowly up and down Blake’s arms which were still tense.

Blake rolled her eyes. “You _also_ just said our team needs us!”

“I did,” Yang said with a nod. “But they need us ready to fight, and you’re not there yet. It’s fine, Blake. We can afford a couple more minutes…”

“ _No!_ We have to go. We have to—”

And then Yang’s lips were on hers and every muscle in her body tensed for a second before relaxing into the sensation. Just as she closed her eyes, Yang pulled back, but stayed close.

“I need a minute too,” she said, voice shaky. “I mean… we could’ve… you could’ve…” Yang’s wide eyes bounced around Blake’s features, her breath picking up and clouding the air between them.  

Calmer now, Blake was the one who leaned forward this time, her lips capturing Yang’s in a deep kiss. At least if her mouth was busy, she couldn’t hyperventilate, and the kiss seemed to do the trick of calming her down. A physical reminder that Blake was still there, that she’d always be.

Blake was a little surprised when she felt Yang pull away first. Her eyes fluttered open and saw that Yang was already looking at her. Like _really_ looking at her. Her heart did a flip.

After what felt like an eternity, Yang spoke softly, just above a whisper.

“I love you too.”

 

They walked briskly, but their hands stayed clasped together. Both were still fatigued from the fight emotionally and physically, and Blake just didn’t have it in her to run quite yet.

“So… I’m sorry about your bike,” Blake said, squeezing Yang’s hand a little. To her surprise, Yang let out a genuine laugh.

“I’m not,” Yang said, smirking. “Totally worth it.”

Blake sighed and frowned. She wished she’d just admit that losing her bike sucked. Blake knew how much Bumblebee meant to Yang. Hell, she’d practically built it.

“Seriously, Blake,” Yang said, voice softer. “It wasn’t even a thought. I’d do it every time, in every life, if it meant being there for you. It… it’s just a bike.” She added with a shrug.

Blake sighed again, but her cheeks were tinted pink and a small, endearing, smile stretched across her lips. “Well, _I’m_ sorry that we don’t have it anymore,” she said. “Walking sucks right now.”

Yang chuckled, and raised her eyebrows. “I could carry you?” she offered.

Blake rolled her eyes. “ _No,_ Yang.”

A sharp breeze cut through the trees and Blake couldn’t suppress the shiver that ran down her spine. The fight had left her sweaty, despite the cold air, and now she was starting to feel like her sweat was freezing to her skin as her body cooled down.

“Cold?” Yang asked, tugging lightly on Blake’s hand.

Blake tried to shrug it off. “A little bit,” she said, though the hitch in her voice when the wind blew again really gave her away.

Yang’s hand slipped out of her own and Blake frowned, looking over at her as she started to unbuckle the collar of her coat.

“What’re you doing? Don’t even think about offering me your jacket,” Blake said, shaking her head and grabbing at Yang’s hand. “I’ll be fine. I’ve been in worse.”

Yang rolled her eyes and batted Blake’s hand away gently. “Don’t be stubborn, Belladonna,” she said, finishing with the buckle and unzipping her coat. “My semblance keeps me running hot for hours after I use it. I’ll be fine. _You_ on the other hand will get hypothermia.” Yang stopped walking briefly to shrug her coat off her shoulders and hold it out in front of her. “Now, get over here and put it on.”

“No. Yang, I said I’m fine. Seriously, just let it—”

Yang rolled her eyes and took a few steps towards Blake. “We are _not_ fighting about this, alright? Just, take the freaking jacket." Blake set her with a look and Yang faltered slightly. "Um… please?”

Blake’s face scrunched up as she looked at the jacket outstretched in Yang’s hands. She knew she shouldn’t be so stubborn about it. Honestly, she kind of liked the idea of being able to curl up in it, seep in Yang’s body heat. She _was_ freezing. But she didn’t want Yang to have to sacrifice her own comfort. It was still cold and even if Yang was telling the truth and her semblance did keep her warm, it wouldn’t for that long with the way the wind was howling.

She was a second from arguing it again, but she stopped short as she looked up at Yang. Determination was there, sure, but so was genuine concern and Blake just didn’t have the heart to keep fighting a ridiculous battle. So, with a sigh, she stepped forward and slipped her arms into Yang’s coat sleeves.

Blake let out a breath of relief. It was so _warm_.

“Better?” Yang asked, smoothing out the jacket’s shoulders from behind Blake. Blake could hear her smug smile.

“A little,” she replied. “Not sure it’s going to help too much considering it only covers, like, half my arms.”

Yang let out a chuckle, wrapping her arms around Blake’s waist from behind. Her mouth came right next to Blake’s ear as she whispered. “You’re a terrible liar.” Before leaning a little further forward and planting a quick kiss to Blake’s cheek.

Blake rolled her eyes with a fond smile, and was about to make a comment when they both heard a loud crash. Blake looked over her shoulder at Yang and found wide eyes staring back at her. Without a second thought, they both launched into a full sprint in the direction of the sound.

Yang broke the tree line first, Blake right on her heels. The scene was… a lot to process. Weiss was holding herself up with Myrtenaster, Ruby was supporting herself on Qrow, Jaune and Nora both looked worse for wear with Ren looking over them, Oscar was in some kind of panic, and Maria’s eyes were pretty much busted. But none of that compared to the fact that there was a huge mech lying crippled in the ocean, just over the side of the cliff.

“Ruby!” Yang shouted, slowing to a stop and staring at the mech.

Ruby turned around, and let go of Qrow in favor of meeting up with her teammates.

“Yang, Blake! Are you guys okay?”

Yang bypassed the question, there’d be time for that later. “What happened here?” she asked instead.

Before Ruby could respond there was a loud roar. One that shook the ground. Blake’s eyes widened and her and Yang shared a glance before Blake looked at Ruby.

“Is that a giant Grimm?” she asked, hesitant.

Ruby grimaced and Weiss spoke up. “Yes,” she said. “And we just destroyed the only thing capable of stopping it.”

Blake and Yang shared another look, and this time, Blake sighed, her ears tilting down. Realistically, she knew they’d run into some kind of trouble when they found their team again. But huge Atlas mechs? Giant Grimm? And probably more Grimm on the way? She wasn’t sure she had the energy.

“Come on,” Jaune said, starting in the direction of the airship. It looked beat up in the trees, but still in one piece. “We’ll have better luck striking from the air.”

The group boarded the ship, and Yang was quick to guide Blake towards one of the benches as they took off.

Blake’s shoulders sagged as they took to the air. She was _tired_. Walking through the woods with Yang had been one thing, but she wasn’t sure how much more she could fight today, especially without her weapon. It also didn’t help that literally all of this was her fault. If she’d just been able to cut the comm lines, none of this would be happening.

“Hey,” Yang said softly, her right hand rubbing circles into Blake’s back as her left fell to Blake’s arm. “What’s going on in that head of yours?”

Blake sighed and shook her head. “It… it’s all my fault. If I’d just been able to—”

“Yeah, okay, I’m going to shut that down _real_ fast.”

Both Blake and Yang looked up at Weiss with a certain amount of shock.

“I don’t know what happened,” Weiss continued, “and, frankly, there’s not enough time to go through it right now. But you both look like you’ve been through Hell, so I’m going to guess that it’s absolutely _not_ your fault.”

“Yeah,” Ruby said with a nod of her head, coming to kneel in front of Blake. “Things happen. What’s important now is that we’re all here. Together.”

Blake’s heart warmed and she smiled and nodded. “Yeah. Okay.”

Ruby smiled back and leaned forward, wrapping Blake in a hug that she quickly returned. They stayed like that for a moment before Ruby pulled back, a knowing smile on her face as she looked between Blake and Yang. Blake chanced a glance at her partner only to find her looking off to the side, blushing.

Blake cleared her throat, trying to hide a blush of her own.

“Not to break up the moment,” Maria called from the pilot’s seat, having temporarily been able to fix her prosthetic eyes, “but do we have some sort of plan here? Or am I just going to continue to fly us in circles?”

Ruby stood, looking around at her team, her friends, her family. She took a deep breath and looked out the window of the airship at the Leviathan that was easily wearing down Atlas defenses, destroying their shield barriers, and wreaking enough havoc to strike fear into the hearts of the citizens of Argus, drawing an army of Grimm in from the skies.

“We need to take out the Leviathan,” Ruby stated, simply. “We do that, and the defenses can focus on the smaller Grimm.”

Maria hesitated before speaking. “You know,” she said, “if we do this, there’s no guarantee we’ll get to Atlas. We have the airship now. I won’t judge you if you’d rather escape in the fray.”

Glancing once more around the room, the final decision was made. “I said, we need to take out the Leviathan.”

 

It was over quicker than anyone had expected. As it turned out, Ruby’s silver eyes really were _that_ strong, and she was able to slow the Leviathan down long enough for Cordovin to finally get the stick out of her ass and start beating Grimm to death with it. Or – more accurately – she managed to put the drill arm of the mech through the Leviathan that Ruby had managed to partially encase in stone. Yang was fonder of her description of events, however.

After all was said and done, the group found themselves on their way to Atlas, courtesy of the airship the newly reformed Cordovin kindly let them commandeer, giving everyone plenty of time to catch up and rest.

Yang and Blake recounted the events of their day to the group. Yang doing the majority of the talking, while Blake filled in the missing pieces.

Although Blake could tell that Ruby had genuine empathy for what they’d gone through, she was unsurprised to hear how enamored she was with the idea that Yang “intentionally” launched her motorcycle at Adam.

“I’m telling you, Rubes, direct fucking hit,” Yang said, with a smirk. It was easier to talk about these kinds of things, it kept her mind off of how it all ended.

“Hey! Language!” she heard Qrow call from the passenger’s seat of the airship.

Yang rolled her eyes, but otherwise ignored the comment.

“That is so cool! A motorcycle that’s also a weapon! I can’t believe I’ve never thought of that…” Ruby said, spiraling into a long string of incoherent mumbles as she worked through how that would work, in her head.

Yang shook her head, and – without even thinking about it—slung an arm around Blake’s shoulders. Blake in turn snuggled into her side, not noticing the glances coming their way from some of their friends.

Ruby already had an inkling, so she pretty much ignored the display of affection, focusing instead on drawing a mental blueprint of what Yang’s weaponized motorcycle should look like. Jaune, Ren, and Oscar had the decency to only smile to themselves. Even Nora was able to tone it down to just smacking Ren on the shoulder and pointing excitedly in their direction.

The only reaction, that effectively ruined the moment, oddly came from Weiss.

“ _Finally!”_ Weiss nearly shouted, slumping back against the wall of the airship.

Blake tensed in Yang’s arms and it was only then that the couple realized they’d just outed themselves. Yang only chuckled and pressed a kiss to Blake’s temple, effectively calming any nerves that had arisen from Weiss’s sudden outburst.

“Easy, there, Ice Queen,” Yang said.

Weiss shot Yang a look, sitting upright once again and pointing in her direction. “ _You_ do not get to give me that! I know how hung up on Blake you were, I’m just happy that you finally made a _move!_ ”

Yang blushed hard, a little embarrassed, but Blake smiled and simply reached for her hand, intertwining their fingers. She pulled back a little so their eyes could meet and Blake’s smile stretched wider.

“Yeah,” she said, looking into soft lilac eyes, “me too.”

Yang’s confidence restored a fraction and she started to lean forward, intent on stealing a kiss, when Qrow’s voice rang out from the front of the airship.

“Hey! If you’ve never been to Atlas before, you’re not going to want to miss this.”

Blake was somewhat cognizant of everyone else scrambling to the front of the ship, but she let the tension between them hang for a moment. Watched as Yang’s eyes stayed locked on her lips. Watched as Yang’s tongue ran along her own bottom lip with desire.

Then she smirked, leaning closer and cocking her head to the side as if she was going in to finish the kiss, but instead she whispered. “You know, I’ve never seen Atlas before…”

Yang’s eyes had fluttered shut and she shrugged. “Eh, seen one floating city, you’ve seen ‘em all.”

Blake laughed and pulled back, tugging on Yang’s hand as she stood up. “Come _on_.”

Yang’s eyes opened and she groaned as she let herself be pulled up off the floor and towards the front of the airship. Blake leaned against the back of Maria’s seat looking out the front window of the ship, and Yang settled behind her, wrapping her arms around her waist and resting her chin on Blake’s shoulder. Yang felt more than heard Blake’s gasp as the city came into view.

“It’s… _wow._ ”

Yang nodded. “Yeah.”

It didn’t take long for Yang to feel Blake tense in her arms, and it didn’t take long for Yang to figure out _why._ Her gaze fell to the dim light of the lower city of Mantle as well. She squeezed Blake a little tighter.

“Hey,” she said, getting Blake’s attention.

Blake’s ear twitched in Yang’s direction, her head turning slightly to glance at her. “Yeah?”

“Think we can get you a new coat in Atlas? I mean, I’m getting pretty cold…” Yang said, a smile stretching across her face.

Blake laughed, and pushed Yang’s face away halfheartedly, nudging Yang’s temple with her forehead when she leaned back in. After a moment Blake sighed.

“I… I’m a little…” Blake sighed again, unwilling to admit that she was nervous. After everything they’d gone through, Atlas should be nothing, and yet, now that it stood towering before her, it felt like something else she needed to conquer.

Yang nodded. “I know,” she said. She turned her head and planted a soft kiss on Blake’s lips, resting their foreheads together as she pulled back. “I am too,” Yang admitted. She felt Blake let out a soft breath. “But,” she said, pulling back and looking Blake in the eye with determination, “we’re going to be okay.”

Blake searched Yang’s eyes for any sense of doubt but came up with nothing. So, instead she nodded, shooting Yang a small smile before turning to face forward again, shoulders a little straighter as she felt Yang smile against her neck.

“Yeah,” Blake said, with one solid nod. “Yeah, I think you’re right.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's all she wrote! 
> 
> ...SIKE!
> 
> I totally have an epilogue planned for this, but it's going to be a little shorter than the normal chapters maybe... probably... we'll see!
> 
> Thank you so much for reading! I'm so happy to have finally finished a multichapter fic! And I'm so thankful to all of you that have taken the time to read, review, leave kudos, etc. Seriously, it means the world to me!
> 
> I currently have an AU for the bees that I'm working on, so I hope you'll stick around and see what that's about as well ;)
> 
> Until next time, please hit me up on tumblr: @empressofedge
> 
> AND FINALLY! Have a great day/ night, wherever you are <3
> 
> PS Let the girls curse 2k19


	9. Epilogue: Lovers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It gets smutty in the epilogue. Sorry if it's not your thing! (remember when I said it'd be shorter? I lied. Also, I'm running late for work now. Bye!)

“What about this one?” Blake asked, holding her hands up in a questioning shrug as she looked down at herself.

Yang’s lips tilted down in thought as she looked at Blake. “It’s… alright,” she said.

Blake huffed, arms dropping to her sides. “You’ve said that about literally every single one,” she said, aggravated. She turned around and looked in the mirror on the wall, twisting to see herself from all angles. “Seriously, what’s wrong with it? I think it looks good,” she said, tugging on the collar of the current coat she was trying on. Coat number seven to be exact.

Yang chuckled, stepping forward and wrapping her arms around Blake’s waist from behind. “Of course, it looks good,” she said, burying her nose in Blake’s hair. “You make everything look good.”

Blake huffed. “Then why have you said they all look just alright?” She craned her neck to try and get Yang to meet her eye. “We could’ve been done hours ago!”

Yang smirked, brushing Blake’s hair over her shoulder and pulling down the collar of the jacket so she could press a kiss to the nape of her neck. “I dunno,” Yang mumbled against her skin, the fur lining of the jacket tickling her chin. “Maybe I just got used to you in your crop top…” she said with a shrug. Blake could feel her smirk on the back of her neck.

“You’re unbelievable,” Blake said, shrugging out of Yang’s arms, but her chuckle betrayed her.

Yang smiled. “Hey, I’m just saying, you rock the no-jacket look.” Her smile shifted to something softer after a moment. “Or the… wearing-my-jacket look.”

Blake sighed, a small smile still playing on her lips. “I really want to be mad at all the time we wasted, but you just have to be so damn… charming.”

Yang raised an eyebrow, shoulders straightening. “Charming, huh?”

Blake rolled her eyes, turning back around to look in the mirror once more. “Yeah, already regretting that one.”

Yang smirked, playing it up. “Is that what happened? I just came in on my steel horse and swept you off your feet – all romantic-like?”

“Oh yeah, totally,” Blake said, turning around again. “You had me at your awkward introduction to your sister and overenthusiastic ‘hellooooooo!’” she said, mimicking Yang’s greeting with an over-the-top smile and copious amounts of waving, before crossing her arms and dropping her smile for a raised eyebrow and teasing smirk. Yang put her hands on her own hips and cocked them to the side. Blake tried not to follow the movement with her eyes.

“Say what you want, Belladonna, you know you wanted me.”

Blake stared up at Yang for a moment, biting her lip in thought before slowly nodding. “You know, you’re right,” she said, and Yang’s eyebrows shot up. Blake took a step closer, sliding her arms over Yang’s shoulders and loosely linking them behind her neck, fighting off a smile as Yang’s hands settled on her hips out of habit. “I _did_ want you…” she said, leaning closer, her lips just a breath away.

All Yang had to do was sway forward just a bit and they’d be kissing. But Blake kept talking, and gods _why_ was she still talking?

“…to go _away_ so I could _read,_ ” Blake finished, smirk back full-force as she leaned back to look at Yang’s baffled expression.

“Um, _ouch?_ ” Yang said in faux-offense. “Y’know, sometimes it’s okay to lie to the people you love. Pretty sure I’ll never come back from that one, Blake,” she added, placing a hand to her chest dramatically and starting to turn away.

Blake caught her with a chuckle before she could turn too far, tugging her in by her jacket until she stumbled against her body.

“Don’t be so dramatic,” Blake murmured, leaning up and stealing a kiss so quickly, Yang didn’t even get the chance to reciprocate. Blake looked up at her, serious. “Maybe I didn’t want you when I was a stupid kid,” Blake said. Her ears twitched restlessly as her cheeks tinted pink. She looked up at Yang through dark eyelashes. “But… I want you now.”

Yang smiled, wrapping her arms around Blake’s waist and resting their foreheads together. “Yeah, I gathered from all the hand holding and kissing,” she said through a chuckle.

Blake chuckled, uneasy. “Um, yeah…” she said, clearing her throat, “that… that’s not exactly what I…” she swallowed thickly, cheeks flaring. Yang looked at her curiously and Blake rambled, trying to set her mind at ease. “Um… I mean, I love all that stuff. And… and I love you. And I love being with you. But, that’s not exactly what I was trying to like… get at.”

It took Yang a moment for all the pieces to click. For the choice of words to hit home. But Blake could tell the second the lightbulb went off in Yang’s head.

Mostly because her girlfriend was anything but subtle.

“OH!” Yang all but shouted.

Blake cringed, glancing around the store to see a few customers looking their way with clear distaste. Blake’s ears folded down, both out of apprehension and the sheer hope that maybe they’d just blend into her hair and not cause more unwanted attention.

“Shit,” Yang said, looking around as well after seeing Blake’s reaction. Most of the prying eyes had diverted and Yang let out a sigh. “I… sorry,” she said, head turning back to Blake. “You just… took me a little off guard.”

Blake fidgeted on her feet, not quite meeting Yang’s eye. It had been relatively easy to imply what she meant, but now that it was out there and clear what they were talking about, Blake realized they’d have to actually talk about it.

“Yeah, I know it’s not exactly something we’ve had a lot of time to think about or anything,” Blake mumbled.

It was true, since landing in Atlas they’d been busy. Busy being shuffled from living situation to living situation. Busy planning. Hell, they were only now able to get enough time to finally get Blake a proper coat. Thinking about their relationship had pretty much been pushed aside, except for the late-night makeout sessions they managed to squeak in the past couple of nights, now that they were finally staying in a proper rental house with more rooms than the barracks they’d originally been given.

Even so, it’s not that Yang hadn’t thought about it. Actually, she’d been actively trying _not_ to think about it – and failing miserably.

“No. No, I’ve… I’ve definitely thought about it,” Yang said, cheeks flushing slightly. She glanced up at Blake and saw her biting back a smile. Yang chuckled, still a little nervous as she fiddled with one of Blake’s belt loops. “I mean… how could I not, y’know?”

A laugh bubbled out of Blake as she nodded, stepping a little closer. “Yeah, I know.” She cocked an eyebrow. “I’m the one who brought it up, remember? Clearly, I’ve been thinking about it, too.”

Yang nodded, a thoughtful frown on her lips. “Right. Right. So, we’ve both been thinking about it…”

Silence hung in the air between them. It wasn’t awkward, but it was fraught with tension. With the knowledge that they’d both been _thinking_ about it. That Yang’s mind had wandered between Blake’s thighs, and Blake’s had tugged on Yang’s hair and begged for _more_.

They were both barely breathing, pulses rushing at the thought.

“So… what do we…” Blake paused to swallow as she looked down at Yang’s lips, then back up to her eyes, gaze intense. “What do we do now?”

“We buy the damn coat and get the hell out of here,” Yang said, already tugging Blake along by her hand, towards the cashier. Blake laughed, shaking her head.

“So, now, suddenly, this jacket is perfect on me?”

“Who cares?” Yang tossed quietly over her shoulder. “I think any of them would look just as nice piled up on the hardwood floor of our room.”

Blake’s responding low chuckle sent a shiver down Yang’s spine, and she tugged her a little faster towards the register, eager to get back to the house.

 

They made a beeline for their bedroom. Blake’s sweaty palm clinging to cool metal like a lifeline. She was a little relieved that Yang had grasped her hand with the prosthetic, afraid that the damp skin might give away how nervous she was. Blake had _some_ experience in the area, but not nearly enough to quell the way her heart was rocketing against her ribcage. Even if she did, this was _Yang_. No one could ever measure up to the feeling she got when Yang looked her way, let alone the feeling she got when she so much as touched her.

Yang dragged her into the bedroom, turning around and pulling Blake to her body before stepping forward to shut the door, pinning Blake to it in the process. And then Blake didn’t have time to overthink her nerves because Yang’s lips were on hers, and Yang’s teeth were digging into her lower lip, and Yang’s hands were slipping inside her jacket, splaying across her stomach before wrapping around her back and gently scratching down.

Blake’s right hand automatically dug into golden locks, keeping Yang’s lips pressed against hers as she felt out blindly for the door handle with her left, clicking the lock into place once she found it.

At the sound, Yang pulled back, out of breath, and Blake spoke softly.

“Don’t want to scar Ruby and Weiss,” she said, with a smirk.

Yang sighed, ghosting her lips over Blake’s neck. “Can we maybe not talk about my sister right now?”

Blake craned her neck to the side, giving Yang more room to work her lips on, before bringing her hands to her shoulders and gently pushing her back. Blake cradled Yang’s face between her palms.

“We don’t have to talk at all,” she said, before leaning forward and kissing Yang slowly, her tongue teasing at Yang’s lips.

Any other time, Yang would have teased her for how absolutely cliché that line was, but right then it was taking all of her brainpower just to keep up. And, as she processed Blake’s words, through the haze of her taste on her tongue, Yang realized they actually did kind of need to talk.

With all the willpower she could manage, Yang pulled back, looking into Blake’s hooded eyes with her own.

“I… um,” Yang started, having trouble finding words to convey what she wanted to say. Whether that was due to nerves or the fact Blake may very well have kissed every last word out of her vocabulary, was up for debate.

Blake’s expression sobered a little at Yang’s sudden hesitance, and she was suddenly aware of the fact Yang’s hand was shaking as it trailed up and down her back. Blake reached out softly, caressing down Yang’s left arm until she was cupping her elbow in her palm. She curled her fingers around Yang’s arm in a light, reassuring, squeeze that seemed to work as Yang’s hand stilled, resting on the small of Blake’s back.

Yang let out a deep breath. “Sorry,” she said, softly. Blake shook her head, thumb rubbing gently at the inside of Yang’s elbow.

“No, it’s okay,” she said. “What’s up? Talk to me.”

“Nothing,” Yang said, eyes averting Blake’s. “It’s… it’s stupid. Like, I know I was all… confident and eager and stuff before, but… I don’t know,” Yang said, shrugging. She chuckled, and her fingers scratched at Blake’s back. “I guess I’m, like, super nervous.” Before Blake could say anything, Yang continued. “I mean, I’ve just… I’ve never done any of this before. The whole… relationship thing. I—I was too busy, y’know? Between training and Ruby and everything, it was always a distant thought.”

“Hey—”

“And now it’s… it’s _you_. And I don’t want to, like, mess that up. And you just seem so sure about all of this and…”

Blake raised an eyebrow. “Um, I’m pretty sure it was you that dragged us in here and pressed me against the door,” she said with a teasing smile, giving Yang a chance to digest that that was _still_ their current position. “Just, saying.”

Yang ducked her head and laughed a little at that, some of the tension that had coiled into her shoulders relaxing.

“Look,” Blake said, softly, getting Yang to meet her eyes. She cupped her jaw with her left hand. “We don’t need to do anything if you’re not ready,” Blake said. “Just because we’ve both been thinking about it, doesn’t mean we need to do it now.” She smiled softly up at Yang before leaning forward and planting a chaste kiss to her lips. She pulled back with a happy sigh, resting their foreheads together. “We have all the time in the world, Yang. We don’t need to rush.”

Yang sighed. “But that’s the thing,” she said, shaking her head. “We… we don’t have all the time in the world.” There was a beat before she continued. “I used to want to be a huntress because I didn’t want to know what tomorrow would bring. I loved the idea of that thrill, of getting wrapped up in crazy adventures that would lead me into danger and excitement.” She shook her head again, pulling Blake as close as possible. “But now? I mean, I don’t know what tomorrow’s going to bring, and it _scares_ me,” she said, shaking her head again. “It scares me because now there’s you. And I have something to really live for. But who knows what we’ll face tomorrow? Or the next day? With the safety of the world on our shoulders.”

“Yang…”

“But,” Yang said, cutting Blake off, looking her dead in the eyes. “What I do know is that, today, you’re here.” Yang kissed Blake’s cheek. “And you’re in my arms.” Her other cheek, leaning back again and smiling softly. “And I love you.” Blake smiled back and leaned in to kiss Yang on the lips. Yang happily reciprocated, holding Blake to her body until she pulled back.

“I love you too,” Blake said.

And, really, that’s all Yang needed to hear. She took a deep breath and leaned back in with a smile, capturing Blake’s lips with her own as her fingers dug into Blake’s lower back, forcing her hips forward. Yang slotted a leg between Blake’s thighs as their kiss deepened, Blake humming against her mouth and cradling her face. She felt Blake roll her hips and Yang’s hands slid down, fingers slipping into the back of Blake’s waistband.

Blake pulled back a little. “Yang, really, please don’t feel like you have to—”

“Gods, for someone who’s usually so quiet, I can’t believe how much you’re _talking_ right now,” Yang said, gently bumping their noses together, eyes still shut.

Blake sighed. “Yang, this is serious. I don’t want you to… regret anything.”

Lilac eyes popped open at that. They searched warm gold and Yang shook her head.

“Blake,” she said, looking her square in the eyes, “I would never regret this. I’m a little nervous, not an idiot.”

Blake couldn’t help the small laugh of relief that bubbled out of her as she hooked her arms around Yang’s neck, bringing their bodies together.

“Good,” she said, a breath against Yang’s lips. “Because I really don’t want to wait.”

Blake closed the distance this time, lips hungry against Yang’s as she walked her backwards towards the bed. Before they got there, Blake was working on the zipper to Yang’s jacket, thankful that her partner had opted out of buckling her collar again, once Blake had returned her coat.

Yang’s jacket slid off of her shoulders easily with a little coaxing from Blake’s hands, landing on the floor with a soft thud and a light cling as the metal buckle bounced against wood. The backs of Yang’s knees hit the edge of the bed, but she stayed upright, and her hands found Blake’s hips through their kiss.

Or rather, found the sides of Blake’s new coat. Yang pulled back with a groan, hands sliding inside Blake’s coat and easing it off her shoulders. Blake helped herself shrug out of it, relieved when it fell to the floor.

“That thing was way too hot right now,” Blake mumbled, settling into Yang’s arms again.

Yang smirked leaning forward. “I’ll tell you what’s too hot right now…”

Blake laughed as she kissed her and Yang’s smirk slid into a smile. It didn’t last too long though, as their kisses grew heated, desperate, and Blake finally leaned into Yang enough to make them topple over onto the bed.

Yang bounced on the mattress with a chuckle and a soft “oof” as Blake landed on top of her. But then Blake’s tongue was in her mouth again and _nothing_ was even remotely funny. She was suddenly very aware of the heat growing in the pit of her stomach, of the way Blake’s lithe form rocked gently against her with want, forcing her thigh to press between Yang’s legs. Yang let out a moan that was muffled by their kiss, but only seemed to spur Blake on.

After a moment, Blake pulled back, and Yang fought the impulse to pull her back in as she started peppering kisses across Yang’s jaw and down her neck, drawing airy gasps from Yang’s throat. Nimble fingers played with the bottom of Yang’s shirt for a moment before Blake pulled back from Yang’s neck, pushing herself upright and shifting a little until she was straddling Yang’s lap. Yang’s hands slid over Blake’s clothed thighs, scratching down them slowly as Blake looked down at her with hooded eyes.

She tugged at the bottom of Yang’s shirt.

“Think we could take this off?” She asked, raising an eyebrow as the corner of her mouth twitched up, just the barest amount.

Yang sat up, wrapping her arms around Blake’s waist, and leaning up until her lips met Blake’s in a slow kiss. When Yang pulled back, Blake was breathless.

“Go ahead,” Yang said, gently placing Blake’s hands under her shirt. She felt her muscles twitch under Blake’s gentle touch and watched the Faunus’s face darken with desire. Blake’s fingers slowly crawled up Yang’s abs, her shirt bunching up as she went, until Blake finally tugged it over her head.

Blake had seen Yang in various states of undress over the time they’d spent together, obviously, but under these circumstances it was completely different. Blake tossed Yang’s shirt over her shoulder and onto the floor with their jackets as she admired the view in front of her. After a few moments, Yang chuckled, which did nothing to help move Blake’s concentrated stare.

“Short-circuiting there, babe?” She thought she heard Yang say, but really, who could be sure?

When Blake didn’t answer, Yang hooked her arm around her waist and rolled them over so that her hips were settled between Blake’s thighs. She smirked down at the look of shocked confusion on Blake’s face before she leaned forward to whisper in her ear.

“Why don’t you let me lead for a bit?” She said, punctuating the sentence with a kiss right below Blake’s ear.

Blake shivered below her as Yang worked her way down Blake’s jaw. When she neared Blake’s neck she drew back only long enough to reach around and untie the knot at the back of Blake’s top, allowing the fabric to pull loose from her throat and chest. Blake arched her back to help Yang pull her crop top the rest of the way off and it was one of the sexiest movements Yang had ever witnessed.

Right up until Blake took it upon herself to also unhook her bra and discard that as well.

Not that Yang was complaining.

“Fuck,” Yang said, hovering over Blake.

Blake was flushed, but she still laughed lightly at Yang’s complete lack of filter, before reaching up and threading her fingers through Yang’s hair as she tugged her down for a kiss. They didn’t ease into this one, it was deep and heated from the moment their mouths met, shyness gone – lost in pure desire. Yang groaned as Blake’s bare skin pressed into her own, the sensation overwhelming.

Yang shifted her weight to her left arm without thinking, her right beginning to stray down Blake’s stomach.

Blake broke their kiss with a surprised gasp and immediately hated herself for it.

“You okay?” Yang asked, eyes a wide with concern.

“I… yeah,” Blake said, waving it off. “I’m sorry.”

“Blake…”

“It’s nothing. It… was just a little… cold,” Blake admitted, and frowned when Yang’s eyes dropped to her prosthetic resting on Blake’s stomach.

“Oh, right. I… I’m sorry,” Yang said, withdrawing her hand from Blake’s body, face flush with shame rather than arousal.

Blake shook her head, reaching out to hold Yang’s face between her hands. “You do _not_ get to be sorry for that, Yang. It was a stupid reaction. I want you to touch me.”

The admission had come out so fast in her need to reassure Yang that Blake hadn’t thought about how forward it was. However, the blush on Yang’s cheeks made her glad she said it.

Confidence somewhat restored, Yang smirked. “Guess I’ll just have to get creative, then,” she said.

Blake swallowed as Yang lowered her lips to her neck, lips pressing lightly to the bottom of Blake’s jaw before slowly working downwards, nipping at skin every now and then only to soothe it with the flat of her tongue. Yang kissed over Blake’s chest, teeth grazing over each nipple lightly, before she worked her way lower, kissing on the underside of each breast, over Blake’s rib cage – rapidly rising and falling with each labored breath escaping her lips.

Yang slid lower, lips and tongue tracing over Blake’s navel, smiling as a hand raked through her hair and Blake giggled lightly. Yang’s hands hooked into Blake’s waistband as she kissed a path to Blake’s right hip, nipping at the bone there before walking a trail of kisses to her left hip. Yang brought her right hand up a little to rub a thumb over the X-shaped scar there, and Blake’s hips pushed up off the bed. Yang replaced her thumb with her lips as she pressed a kiss to the scar with care, eyes flashing up to Blake’s from behind her eyelashes, as her fingers slid to Blake’s belt buckle.

Blake’s head fell back onto the mattress with a soft thump, at the sight. “ _Fuck._ ”

Yang chuckled low. “Wow, getting there. _Patience,_ Belladonna.”

“Get in my position and talk to me about patience, Yang,” Blake said through gritted teeth, only making Yang laugh again.

Yang slowly undid the buckle on Blake’s belt, but then took pity on her girlfriend, making quick work of removing her boots and helping her shimmy out of her pants and underwear. Any amount of nerves Blake might have had must’ve been overshadowed by sheer need at that point as she laid bare in front of Yang, chest heaving and body already a little damp with sweat.

Yang was quick to settle back between Blake’s legs, leaving a slow trail of kisses up each of her thighs as her right hand settled on her hip and left wandered up to Blake’s chest.

Blake found the willpower to look down at her, as Yang’s lips finally neared their goal, teeth nipping at the sensitive skin of her inner thigh. She reached down with one hand, pushing blonde bangs out of Yang’s eyes until her gaze flickered up to meet her own.

Yang smiled up at her before her eyes fell between Blake’s legs. She had _no_ idea what she was doing, but with the way Blake’s body was reacting to her touch so far, she must have been doing something right.

Yang leaned forward, giving an experimental lick with the flat of her tongue, letting out a pleased sigh as the grip in her hair tightened and Blake’s breath hitched above her. She repeated the motion a few more times, enjoying the new taste of Blake on her tongue, the way her hips rocked into her mouth, and the small whimpers that drew from the back of her throat.

Yang’s left hand toyed with Blake’s nipple shortly, before having to slide down her body to help keep her hips in place.

Blake groaned as Yang’s tongue became a little more sure, starting to find a rhythm between licking through her folds and teasing at her clit with tight circles that elicited high pitched whines from the back of Blake’s throat. Yang chuckled against Blake’s clit, causing a louder moan to rip from somewhere in her chest and Blake’s free hand flew to her mouth to try and stifle it.

“Gods, Blake, you’re gonna get us caught,” Yang said with a small laugh.

Blake groaned, completely ignoring Yang’s teasing. “What’re you doing? Don’t _stop._ ” She tugged on Yang’s hair gently, bringing her mouth back to her and Yang wasted no time diving back in.

The short break made Yang’s tongue feel ten times better and before Blake knew it, she was writhing, breath coming in short gasps as her thighs shook and back arched. She bit at her lip to try and silence her moans as Yang continued to stroke her with her tongue. As her muscles relaxed, the sensation became overwhelming.

“Yang… Yang… st-stop,” Blake said between pants.

Yang pulled back, looking up at Blake curiously.

“I just… need… to breathe,” Blake said, chuckling lightly, as she stroked her fingers through Yang’s hair.

Yang smiled, pressing a kiss below Blake’s navel before mapping a path up her body with her lips, until they slotted together, chest to chest. Yang brushed Blake’s sweaty bangs out of her eyes.

“That was… I mean, I… you…” Yang shook her head with a smile.

Blake smiled back, cupping a hand behind Yang’s neck and drawing her in for a kiss, humming at the taste of herself on Yang’s tongue.

“It was,” Blake said with a chuckle. She pecked Yang’s lips again. “And I love you,” she added with a soft smile.

Yang smiled back. "Love you too," she replied with a kiss. Yang’s smile turned mischievous as she pulled back, her eyebrow quirking. “But... care to show me how much? Looks like fun…” she said, cocky.

Blake grinned, reaching around Yang’s back and finally unclasping her bra from her body.

“Gladly.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not my best smut ever, still getting used to their rhythm, but hope you enjoyed nonetheless! Thank you so much for reading and I'll see you in the next one!
> 
> Feel free to drop a comment, kudos, etc. I love hearing from you all. 
> 
> Have a great day/ night!
> 
> Tumblr: @empressofedge hit me up!


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